Hardik Pandya’s rise in the limited overs game has been phenomenal. The way he has moulded himself to become one of the best all rounders in the world has been brilliant to see, and the best part is that the journey has only started.
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But like everything else, Pandya’s game needs that minor fine tuning in order to transform him that enviable all-rounder that India has always desired.
Hardik was trying to script the impossible in India’s run chase against Pakistan but couldn’t complete the task due to a terrible mix up with Jaddu.
He failed to do the job then and couldn’t finish the job in the 4th ODI against West Indies as well. But Pandya feels that his ‘fearless attitude’ would fetch better results for his country in the future.
Pandya was 20 of 21 when India needed 19 to win from 21 balls against the Windies. 9 times out of 10, India would have come out on top, but a ‘brain fade’ on part of the entire lower order meant that West Indies still had a chance of levelling the series.
Pandya is scheduled take over the job of the ‘finisher’ from MS Dhoni, but hasn’t quite performed that frequently, and will need to learn a lot from Dhoni, who seems to be on his way out.
Pandya spoke about how Dhoni and he spoke about finishing the game off against West Indies.
“The conversation with MS was pretty simple to be honest. The power which we both have we thought to take the innings deep and then chase it down. Most times we would chase 31 off 29 balls but then we were not able to finish. I back myself to finish the game for the team and all these instances are part of the learnings,” said Pandya
“We will be fearless in the final game. Last game was one of those games where it did not click. But we will go ahead and express ourselves, that is when we play our best cricket,” Pandya added.
Pandya then spoke about how he was angry after his run out in the Champions Trophy but got over it pretty quickly as a player needs to move on very quickly from failures.
“It took a lot of time. Only three minutes to be honest,” he quipped. “It was just an outburst. I get hyper quickly and after few minutes I was laughing in the dressing room. Looking at me, some of the players were laughing too.” Pandya said.
Pandya then went onto speak about his connection with the West Indies players and how Pollard and co. helped him understand the Carribean conditions way before he landed there.
“I am pretty close to the names you took (Kieron Pollard and Lendl Simmons, who are not part of the ODI team). The first call was to Pollard. I asked him about the pitches and conditions. They are my brothers from another mother. It would have been nice to play against them and enjoy some healthy banter,” he said.
I am pretty happy with the way things are going for me. Both with bat and ball,” he further added
“You should be brave enough to do the job that is required of you. I back myself to play in any situation. I see myself as a proper all-rounder and not bowling or batting all- rounder.” Pandya concluded.
