Pakistani Journalist Takes A Dig At Indian Media For Comparing Hardik Pandya With Ben Stokes

Hardik Pandya has come a long way since making his One-Day International debut in October last year. While he showcased his immense potential in his very first game by bagging the Man of the Match award, he was probably seen as a utility player who could chip in with both bat as well as ball when the team needed. However, within a year, the 23-year old has become and indispensable part of the team across formats.

In July, he made an unexpected debut in Tests and went on to prove his detractors wrong by slamming a quickfire fifty in his maiden Test appearance. Two matches later, he announced his arrival at the highest stage of the game with a stunning 96-ball 108 runs knock including 8 fours and 7 sixes which not only earned him his maiden Man of the Match award in Tests but also paved the way for India’s thumping win.

Prior to the Test series in Sri Lanka, he had impressed with his explosive batting in the Champions Trophy final, slamming 76 off just 43 balls with the help of  4 fours and six sixes including three consecutive ones off Shadab Khan. Recently, he further elevated his stature as one of the most exciting talents in the world right now with an outstanding allround performance in the win over Australia in the first ODI.

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After walking to bat when India were reeling at 87 for 5, he scored 83 off 66 balls with the help of 5 fours and as many sixes before taking two wickets including the prized scalp of Steve Smith as India won the series-opener by 26 runs (DLS method). His impressive allround performances have made many compare him with England star Ben Stokes who is arguably the best allrounder in the world right now.

However, Fazeela Saba, a Pakistani journalist, is one of the handful of people who are yet to be impressed by Pandya’s exploits as she took to Twitter to give her views on his comparisons with Stokes.

“Pandy (Pandya) undoubtedly is the upcoming multitasked player in cricket but his comparison with Ben Stokes by Indian media seems unjustified,” she tweeted.

https://twitter.com/FazeelaSaba1/status/909713295183110144

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