Hardik Pandya has been at the center of India’s success in the last few games in Australia. He helped India win the third ODI all on his own and repeated his performance in the second T20I. Both his feats have come in Sydney. Meanwhile, former Indian batsman Aakash Chopra has made a huge claim on the Indian all-rounder after the success he has tasted in Australia recently. He said that Hardik will be the most important Indian player going forward even more than the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah.
Speaking on his Facebook page, Aakash Chopra said that Hardik Pandya will be key if India are to win ICC events in the near future. India will be hosting one T20 world cup and one 50-over world cup in the next three years.
“Hardik Pandya is fast becoming India’s most valuable player in white-ball cricket. He is going to be more valuable than Kohli, Rohit, Bumrah. If India has to win the World T20, Hardik Pandya could be the one to play the biggest role in that. To start with Hardik Pandya the batsman, India has not won the last few limited-overs World Cups. Our top-order has always been good, Rohit Sharma scored five centuries in one World Cup and Virat Kohli always scores runs.”
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Hardik Pandya is India’s Next Finisher: Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra further emphasised on Hardik Pandya’s role as a finisher with MS Dhoni retired from international cricket.
“But why we don’t win the matches in the end? Earlier there was (MS) Dhoni who used to be left alone. Now with Dhoni having left, there is no one. If you have to win the next World Cup, there is no way you can win it with just Rohit, Rahul and Kohli in the top three. It will not work with that, you need finishing because that is India’s problem in T20 or ODI cricket. We bowl well but get the problem in the finishing with the batting. The strong finishers are not present, it is a different skill which cannot be taught.”
Hardik Pandya has carried on his good from the IPL onto the Australia series. He scored 281 runs in the IPL. After scoring 210 runs in three ODIs to finish as the highest run-getter for India in the fifty-over series, Pandya has so far notched up 58 runs in two T20Is.
Also Read: Hardik Pandya Key For India Next 4 to 5 Years: Virat Kohli
