Hardik Pandya is the MVP of Indian cricket. Arguably, he would be the most important player in white-ball cricket alongside Jasprit Bumrah. While Bumrah has missed the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy, Pandya came up with another of his clutch performances in a high-octane India vs Pakistan clash. When Babar Azam was cover driving like a dream, it was Pandya who sent a frenzy in the Indian dressing room. In fact, Pandya took two of the main batters in the match as he also sent back Saud Shakeel, who made a vital 62.
Hardik Pandya the underrated bowler!
One would associate Hardik Pandya’s bowling as a regular pacer, who would ideally bowl in the middle phase just to get things going. He would hit the deck and entice batters to hit horizontally. But Pandya is a clutch bowler. He has that charisma and is a leader in himself, helping him to bowl with a variety. He does get help from the likes of Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Siraj, but to have such better stats is quite superb to have. Pandya almost takes a wicket in every other ODI.
Pandya completed his 200 international wickets when he got the important scalp of Saud Shakeel. With this, he also now has 10 wickets in 8 games. At the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, he took two wickets. Then at the ODI World Cup 2019, he again took two, that too, of Shoaib Malik and Sarfaraz Ahmed. Not to mention, his wickets of Imam and Mohammad Nawaz.
For those unaware, no cricket player has a better average difference (batting av. – bowling av.) than Pandya against Pakistan in ODI history. Below is the list of top players with the best ODI average difference against the Men in Green (min 8 matches).
| Player | Mat | Runs | HS | Bat Av | Wkts | BBI | Bowl Av | Ave Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HH Pandya (IND) | 8 | 209 | 87 | 69.66 | 10 | 2/31 | 24.60 | 45.06 |
| Richie Richardson (WI) | 61 | 1988 | 122 | 40.57 | 1 | 1/4 | 4.00 | 36.57 |
| Michael Clarke (AUS) | 21 | 939 | 103* | 55.23 | 5 | 3/15 | 25.40 | 29.83 |
| Derek Pringle (ENG) | 9 | 94 | 34* | 47.00 | 18 | 4/42 | 17.72 | 29.27 |
Hardik Pandya bowling stats in ICC tournaments
| Inns | Wkts | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | 45 | 3/20 | 30.31 | 6.57 | 27.6 |
Hardik Pandya often brings out his best in ICC tournaments. He has 45 wickets at an average of 30.3 across all ICC matches, including at the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup, T20 World Cup, and ICC Champions Trophy. Notably, the likes of Andrew Flintoff, Shoaib Akhtar, Shane Warne and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have all fewer wickets at ICC events than Pandya.
On Sunday, Pandya utilised the placid Dubai track. He just didn’t put the ball at the middle of the pitch but rolled his fingers to add a much-needed variety. Having said that, it was a shame that Rohit Sharma didn’t complete Pandya’s full quota of 10 overs.
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