Hardik Pandya is one of the most popular and talented players to have come out of the Indian team over the last few years. The dashing Baroda all-roudneer seems to have come of age and is a regular starter in the team’s limited overs side. Hardik Pandya has also managed to make his Test debut and performed well.
Pandya’s journey has been filled with struggles growing up and his tattoos and fun attitude is not at all a reflection of the past that he had.
It was an 82 off 57 balls for Baroda in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy that made Pandya a force to reckon with. It also bagged him a contract with the Mumbai Indians back in 2015. This helped him gain the confidence to become an international player.
No preferential treatment:
One of the complaints that a lot of analysts had against Hardik Pandya was that he was receiving preferential treatment from the captain. A lot felt that his place in the squad was unwarranted and Kohli was giving him a chance over other, well-qualified ones.
Hardik Pandya has managed to keep them quiet for now with a good string of performances in limited overs cricket. He also managed to play a good knock in the first test, devoid of any rash shots and batted well with the tail-enders to ensure that they made a good score of 600.
Pandya’s first-class record of 746 runs in 17 matches and a bowling average of just above 35 do not make for good reading.
Hardik Pandya, however, is not someone who you should view with the lens of statistics. He is gifted and is good enough for the national side. If the likes of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar believe in your talent, you must be something special. Tendulkar predicted that Pandya would be in the national in a year and a half back in 2015. He achieved the feat in 7 months.
Also, an unsuccessful domestic career does not always mean a bad performance in the international stage. David Warner, one of Australia’s stalwarts at the moment, had not played a single First Class game in his career!
Hardik Pandya is an asset and the Indian team is very lucky to have a player like him. If he can continue producing results, his first-class record will be a mere footnote in a long career.
Featured image source: crictracker.com
