Hardik Pandya has been part of the Indian team for almost two years now, having made his Twenty20 debut and One Day International debut in 2016. His short journey has mostly been good. Until South Africa. He features in all three formats of the game—such is the balance he lends to the playing XI for skipper Virat Kohli—with his useful batting, bowling and fielding. But the tour to South Africa has been a hard one for him particularly.
From being tagged as the next Kapil Dev to being untagged from that comparison, his dethroning was swift. To be fair to the 24-year-old all-rounder still-in-the-making, the hype was not his own creation.
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Speaking to THE WEEK on the sidelines of the Vijay Hazare quarterfinal match between Baroda and Saurashtra at Feroz Shah Kotla, the Baroda boy's childhood coach and mentor Kiran More requested all critics and fans to let Pandya be. “Let him play. Comparisons with Kapil Dev are not fair,” he said.
In the Test series against the Proteas, he made his presence felt with his impactful 93 in the first Test match in Cape Town. But from there, it went downhill. In the remaining two Tests he could manage only 26 runs. While Indian bowling shone in the series, Pandya managed only three wickets in three matches. “He scored a 90 in the Test match, I mean how many guys got a 50 in that series,” More said.
In the shorter formats, his struggles increased. Sent in to bat at number 5, 6 and 7, he scored 26 runs. India won the series 5-1 but the middle order and the roles of finishers remain to be sorted. It is here that Pandya's role is unclear.
The former India stumper and chairman of selectors, More, had a word with Pandya after the ODI series. “When you go and bat at that number, getting success and runs are not easy. You are under pressure all the time. I think it is not fair to say he had a bad series. He has bowled well, he is picking wickets, he has fielded well.”
According to More the experience of South Africa will hold Pandya in good stead. “I advised him to work a bit more on his batting. When he gets into the groove, try not to hit the ball that hard.”