Some three years back, there were huge question marks over Hardik Pandya’s future. The star all-rounder-in-the-making had just gone under the surgeon’s knife in October 2019 to fix a lower back problem, and there were inevitable and justified doubts about when, if not whether, he would make a full-fledged return as the impact cricketer he had been in the early stages of his international career.
His inability to bowl during the early part of the T20 World Cup in the UAE last year did influence India’s early exit from the tournament, which he played primarily as a specialist late-order finisher. But while the rest of the country fretted and fumed, the team management and his colleagues were willing to bide their time, confident that the Pandya of yore would resurface with his skills undiminished. After a successful stint with bat and ball for Gujarat Titans in Season 15 of the IPL, when he led the debutants to the title, Pandya’s graph has been on a steady upswing. He has been bowling with both hostility and control and, on the recent tour of the Caribbean and the USA, proclaimed that he could fill in as a third or fourth seamer who could send down his full quota of four overs.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar appeals against Pakistan’s Naseem Shah
True to his word, Pandya sang the redemption song at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, in India’s Asia Cup opener against Pakistan. Coming on to bowl in the fifth over as first-change, he left his imprint on the game. The first of India’s bowlers to complete his full quota, he finished with excellent returns of three for 25. His victims were Iftikhar Ahmed, the feisty Mohammad Rizwan and Khushdil Shah, all falling victim to the short ball which Pandya has employed with tremendous impact in recent times.
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Pandya fancies himself as something of a bowling enforcer and it’s a task skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid are happy for him to take on. With miles in his legs, he has steadily cranked up the pace and therefore often surprises batsmen with the heavy ball, as the Pakistani trio found out. That he got rid of the well-set pair of Iftikhar and Rizwan speaks to his accuracy as well as the suddenness with which he can get the ball to climb off a length, without warning.
His three-wicket burst ripped the heart out of the Pakistani batting after Rohit stuck the opposition in, and was primarily responsible for India keeping their opponents down to 147 all out. Right-arm pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished as India’s top wicket-getter with 4-26.
Brief scores
Pakistan 147 all out in 19.5 overs (M Rizwan 43, I Ahmed 28; B Kumar 4-26, H Pandya 3-25) v India (scores incomplete)
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