Former cricketer Irfan Pathan believes that Indian cricket should stop focusing too much on Hardik Pandya‘s role as an all-rounder in international games because Pandya hasn’t made a significant impact in ICC tournaments.
Hardik Pandya’s return to Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024 hasn’t gone as expected. The season has been disappointing for him. Even though he led the team to only three wins out of eight matches, his performance has been below par.
“Stop Giving Hardik Pandya ‘Superstar’ Treatment” – Irfan Pathan
Hardik is also struggling to score runs with the bat, having amassed only 151 runs in eight innings. His bowling hasn’t been effective either, taking just 4 wickets with a high economy rate of 10.94. Despite opening the bowling in six matches, he hasn’t performed well.
Speaking on Star Sports’ Press Room Show, Ticket to World Cup, Irfan said: “What I feel about Hardik Pandya is that Indian cricket needs to make it clear that they should not give him that much priority as they have given him so far, because we still haven’t won the World Cup.”
He added: “If you think you are a primary all-rounder, you need to make that kind of an impact at the international level. As far as the all-rounder is concerned he hasn’t made that impact at the international level, we are only thinking about the potential.”
Irfan pointed out the difference between Hardik’s performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and on the international stage. He said Indian cricket should focus more on teamwork than just individual players. Comparing with Australia, he suggested India should build a strong team rather than relying too much on star players. He said:
“We are getting confused between the IPL performances and the international performances. That’s a big difference. First of all, he needs to play throughout the year. He cannot pick and choose. Indian cricket needs to stop doing that. Stop giving preferences to individuals, if you do that, you will not be winning major tournaments.”
He added: “What Australia has been doing for many years is that they are actually preferring the team game. Making everyone a superstar. Not one superstar, everybody is a superstar in the squad. If you don’t do that, you will not win big tournaments.”
