Irfan Pathan
Irfan Pathan (Image Credit: Instagram)

Former India National Cricket Team all-rounder Irfan Pathan has reserved high praise for the fast-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya. The 29-year-old recently delivered a brilliant all-round performance for the side in the dead rubber third ODI against the New Zealand National Cricket Team.

India openers – Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill – smashed brilliant centuries and laid the foundation for a massive score in the third ODI against the BlackCaps at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore on Tuesday, January 24. After the dismissal of openers, all-rounder Hardik Pandya slammed a 38-ball 54 to help India post 385/9.

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Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya (Image Credits: Twitter)

In the second innings, Hardik Pandya dismissed Finn Allen in the first over itself for a duck and the Kiwis were eventually bowled out for 295 to suffer a 90-run loss.

Speaking after the match, Irfan Pathan showered high praise on Pandya for his spectacular all-round show. He said that there are very few players of Pandya’s calibre in world cricket at the moment.

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“He is an extremely crucial player. You need a player who can both bat and bowl to get the balance. It is very difficult to find the ability that Hardik Pandya provides to the Indian team. You will find very few players like him in world cricket. He first showed his might in batting. The shots he played, the straight pull he hit – he was playing tennis on the cricket ground. It was an exceptional shot and after that also he showed his power and range in the other shots,” Pathan told Star Sports.

If he is in form, it is extremely difficult to stop him – Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan
Irfan Pathan (Image Credit: Twitter)

Pathan added that Hardik Pandya becomes an unstoppable force whenever he has got the form under his belt.

“If he is in form, it is extremely difficult to stop him. The knock came at the right time and fast as well because the other batters were finding it difficult to score against the old ball, but Hardik Pandya did not have that much difficulty,” Pathan added.

Pandya is set to lead India in the upcoming three-match T20I series against New Zealand. The T20Is will be played on January 27, 29 and February 1 in Ranchi, Lucknow and Ahmedabad respectively.

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Photo Credit: (BCCI)

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Sonanchal Gautam is the Assistant Content Manager at Cricketaddictor. He is a professional Wrestling and Hip-hop enthusiast.