IPL 2023: "He Is Unarguably The Most Important Player In The Lineup" - Dinesh Karthik On Hardik Pandya

Dinesh Karthik praised Hardik Pandya, saying he is a natural talent with the capacity to win games on his own. He noted that Pandya’s ability to see the game through to the end and hit big shots makes him a vital asset to the Indian team.

Karthik further stated that Pandya’s bowling makes him an even more valuable asset by providing the team with an extra bowling option.

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The defeat has cast doubt on India’s batting and bowling performances. The batting lineup as a whole failed to deliver in the series, with the top order struggling to get going. The middle order was likewise unable to compete, as the squad failed to post a large total in any of the matches. The bowling assault was likewise subpar, with the pacers unable to make an impression. The spinners, on the other hand, were able to keep the Australian batsmen at bay but were unable to regularly take wickets.

Hardik Pandya, who also skippered India in the first ODI, was one of the positives for India in the three-match series. The regular captain, Rohit Sharma, was unavailable for the opening ODI, so the all-rounder took over. Hardik was praised for his proactive captaincy in the first ODI, where he got a wicket and scored 25 runs off 31 balls. In the second ODI, he fell out of sorts and was removed for one off three balls.

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“Hardik Pandya bats really well through the middle” – Dinesh Karthik

Hardik regained his form in the final ODI even though India lost. Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, and Australian captain Steve Smith were the first three victims taken out by the Gujarat Titans captain. Furthermore, he scored 40 runs off 40 balls throughout the same period. Hardik was referred to as the “most essential player” for India by wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik in his analysis of his role on Cricbuzz.

“Hardik Pandya is unarguably the most important player in the lineup. A, because he brings two skills to the floor and the fact that he brings two tough skills to the floor. Medium pacer and batting all-rounder is something that is very, very hard to get. Yes, there are 2-3 players who are probably spinning all-rounders, but fast bowling all-rounders is very hard to get,” he said.

“Hardik Pandya bats really well through the middle and obviously when it comes to bowling, he seems to find a way to chip in and get wickets. What makes him really hard to play is his natural link because the way he bowls, you always feel he is going to keep short of a length. But the moment he starts bowling fuller, the batsman’s weight is on the back foot, looking for the short ball a lot more, and hence you always tend to be slightly slower. It was a well-thought-out dismissal of Mitchell Marsh, he changed the pace well, got Travis Head to play a pull shot, and dropped in deep square. But again got him playing a cut shot”

“Hardik Pandya is bowling well. He is definitely a very important cog in the wheel. He is one of those players that literally make up the outlook of the team, the way the team is constructed depends on where Hardik Pandya is. Suddenly if you remove him from the whole team and you feel that are we going a batter more or are we going a batter less? It becomes a massive question mark. For Team India, the key player is Hardik Pandya and if he is in form, he brings a lot to the table,”Dinesh Karthik further added.