Hardik Pandya Needs To Settle Down And Choose One Of The Disciplines: Shaun Pollock

Former South Africa skipper Shaun Pollock has advised India allrounder Hardik Pandya to focus on just one discipline of the game.

Pandya’s rapid rise in international cricket has drawn inevitable comparisons with the legendary Kapil Dev. Since the retirement of the World Cup-winning skipper in 1994, India have been engaged in a perpetual search for an all-rounder who can bowl medium pace and score vital runs down the batting order. The likes of Manoj Prabhakar, Sanjay Bangar, Irfan Pathan and several others showed early promise but failed miserably in the end.

The latest to be compared with Kapil Dev is Pandya. The Baroda star has done decently so far and has become a regular feature in India’s playing eleven across formats. However, there is still a long way to go before Pandya even comes close to matching Kapil Dev’s achievements.

And the rising allrounder has now received some words of wisdom from another legend – Pollock. The former Proteas star asked Pandya to make one aspect of his game stronger and then contribute with the other.

Pollock also said that he rates Ben Stokes as the best allrounder right now.

“T20 cricket has made a lot of people realise that they can have the ability to contribute with both bat and ball. As far as all-rounders around the world are concerned, it’s difficult to pick one but I can think of Ben Stokes. He is one of the best,” Pollock told IANS.

“Coming to Indian cricket, Pandya is probably a long term all-round option. I think Virat Kohli really likes his style and attitude towards the game. Looks like he can get both wickets and runs; of course time will tell everything.

“Hardik needs to settle down and choose one of the disciplines (batting or bowling), something that keeps him in the side, and look to contribute on the other as it can be very difficult to contribute with both.”

“If he settles down and gets a good run, there is no reason why he can’t become a wonderful all-rounder for India,” he added.