Two years can change a lot. Hardik Pandya is an excellent example of this. India’s all-rounder was sent home from Australia in 2018-19 for his controversial comments on a non-cricket talk show and two years later, on his return to Australia, he emerged as a mainstay of the lineup. batting for India. .
His exploits were not limited to just the cricket field. Pandya won hearts by presenting his T20 Player of the Series award to rookie T Natarajan.
Pandya’s consistent bat form impressed 1983 World Cup winner India captain Kapil Dev. India’s legendary all-rounder called for Pandya’s promotion in batting order in the shorter format.
Kapil said that Pandya should rise to No. 4 in the T20s.
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“You need 2-3 players in the middle order who can give you a boost. There is Hardik Pandya. You can make him a number 4 hitter at T20. It’s about experimenting, ”Kapil told ABP Uncut.
Pandya won the Man of the Series in T20I from three matches against Australia. This after he had already emerged as India’s highest run scorer in the ODI with over 90 scores to his name.
Pandya’s brilliant career with the bat led to talks of stopping him for the four-game test series against Australia, but India’s captain Virat Kohli said the flamboyant cricketer should start bowling again. to be considered for selection in the longest format.
Meanwhile, Kapil urged the Indian team management to experiment more with the T20s, with the twin World Cups in mind.
“You have young people like Mayank and Sanju Samson. The captain has to support the young people and also the management. The think tank has to believe in building a new team because T20 is a youth format.
“It is surprising that despite having hosted IPL for so many years, I am still afraid of receiving these types of calls. The T20 allows young people to be ruthless and if there was no IPL, there would have been no discussion, but since we have a tournament like IPL, we should use it more, ”Kapil added.