Hardik Pandya and the Indian cricket team - it's complicated

Picture this: you are in a relationship with a person who seems to bring the best out of you, complements you perfectly and even helps you be the best version of yourselves. The two of you have excellent memories together and if someone were to suggest that both of your finest recent hours had arrived in each other’s company, it wouldn’t sound far-fetched.

There is a slight caveat attached to it though. The frequency of the time spent together has been inversely proportional to the joy derived out of these meetings. The lesser the number of occasions, the greater has been the delight. Not just because that person has made it a habit to make these occurrences as intermittent as possible, but also because when things have fallen into place, it has scaled the pinnacle of happiness.

At some point in life, most people go through such a phase where they know what gives them the utmost satisfaction, with respect to their relationships. Yet, they somehow also feel that things just aren’t meant to be that way. For a few, it happens in their teens while for others, it happens a little later. Yet, whenever it does, it leaves people with a sinking feeling, for their venture into promised land has been halted abruptly.

From a cricketing perspective, that is perhaps what the Indian cricket team is feeling. The person they are so longingly wanting to return to their midst is, of course, Hardik Pandya – a cricketer who had an enormous impact upon entry and sustained it for a couple of years.

But Hardik Pandya has also been a cricketer who has been ravaged by injuries lately and has seen his career plateau even as Indian cricket seeks to conquer multiple peaks simultaneously.

To say that Hardik Pandya’s absence hasn’t hurt India would be a massive understatement, because, well, it has. Not just because of the firepower he brings to the fore as a batter, but also because he is the epitome of a three-dimensional cricketer (at least when fit). The fact that he bowls seam-up hasn’t harmed his case either.

Unfortunately, it is the last aspect that has left the Indian faithful wanting more, considering Hardik Pandya hasn’t bowled at full tilt since his back injury in 2019. Prior to that setback, the all-rounder was bowling his entire quota of overs across formats and was casting himself as a wicket-taking option. Hardik Pandya was compared to Kapil Dev at one point, for goodness’ sake.

Post that though, the bowling workload, in a bid to be managed, has been almost negligible, meaning that the extra batting burden has had a detrimental effect too. In blunter terms, Hardik Pandya – the specialist batter hasn’t been as influential as Hardik Pandya – the all-rounder who batted.

At first, it might seem a little paradoxical because the lack of bowling should ideally allow Hardik Pandya to concentrate on his batting more. However, for someone who has played all his life as an all-rounder, it becomes a different problem altogether.

Thus, it isn’t much of a surprise that Hardik Pandya has huffed and puffed in the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League – a competition that he was supposed to set alight. Instead, he has personified the Mumbai Indians’ struggle and to an extent, raised question marks over his place in India’s squad for the T20 World Cup.

Hardik Pandya's place in the Indian team has been cast under the scanner

Hardik Pandya has not bowled since being named in India's T20 WC squad

A month ago, when the team was initially named, plenty thought that Hardik Pandya – the all-rounder was taken into consideration. However, he has bowled a grand total of 0 balls since. In fact, he has only played three matches in the UAE leg of the IPL, indicating that his fitness issues have remained at the forefront.

Batting wise, things have been worse, barring a match-winning knock against the Punjab Kings at Abu Dhabi. On other occasions, he has only managed a strike rate of 162.79 at the death – numbers that aren’t befitting of a finisher of his talent.

Thus, there have been palpable murmurs about Hardik Pandya’s place in India’s T20 World Cup squad. Not only because he hasn’t really been the all-rounder India crave but also because his batting numbers, considering that they now need to be pitted against specialist batters, are far from inspiring.

In a nutshell, though, that perhaps illustrates the quandary facing India. At his best, Hardik Pandya is a shoo-in across formats. In T20Is, he has the potential and the attributes to be the first name on the team sheet. He can be that good and can genuinely impact the game in three different ways – much like Ravindra Jadeja.

Ironically enough, in an IPL campaign where Jadeja has gone from strength to strength, Hardik Pandya is probably at his lowest trough – a trough that hasn’t entirely been his doing but a nadir the whole of India wants him to emerge from.

As things stand, there are only a few days left before India finalize their squad for the T20 World Cup and if these rumors are to be believed, Hardik Pandya could find himself on the fringes again.

However, India would also want to take into account the fact that if Hardik Pandya begins bowling again, Jadeja and Hardik Pandya will accord India a luxury that most other teams can’t even dream of. And, of course, if he starts clubbing the ball to all parts, he may still be quite appealing as a finisher.

For now though, it seems that Hardik Pandya’s immediate future in the Indian side is heavily reliant on what he does with the willow, which at the moment, isn’t a lot. From an Indian perspective, it seems a travesty that one of India’s best all-rounders has had the bowling rug swept from underneath him and there is immense uncertainty around when (or if) things will go back to being normal.

As far as his relationship with the Indian team is concerned, well, it’s a little complicated at the moment. And the longer he continues functioning as a specialist batter, the more skeptical Indian fans will become of Hardik Pandya ever fulfilling his potential completely.

Deep down, though, you still want to wait for Hardik Pandya just because of the highs India experience when he is alongside. In simpler terms, it is a marriage that seems to be made in heaven. It is just a pity then that it has remained elusive over the past couple of years.

Poll : Should Hardik Pandya be a part of India's squad for the T20 World Cup?

Yes

No

177 votes

View Discussion 0