Pandya, the all-rounder India have been waiting for

London : Hardik Pandya is a distinctive character. He oozes confidence in everything he does on and off the field. Even before he had made his debut for India, he had the temerity to say that he was the man Indian cricket was looking for. And he wasn’t wrong. For over a decade now, India have been searching for a hard-hitting lower-order batsman who is a capable seam bowler too.
Pandya’s power hitting lower down the order could turn out to be crucial to India’s chances in the Champions Trophy. On the evidence of his pulsating 80 off 54 balls in the warm-up match against Bangladesh, the signs appear quite positive for the reigning champions.
Pandya’s tattooed arms, his high bat swing and a lovely follow-through mean India finally have a player in the lower-order who can clear the boundary at will. In IPL this season, Pandya scored his runs at a strike rate of 156 and bludgeoned 20 sixes. It appears it’s going to be a batsmen friendly tournament, in which 300-plus totals will be scored quite regularly. In the just-concluded ODI series against South Africa, tournament favourites England showed thrust from the lower-order was essential in amassing formidable totals, and that Pandya is India’s go-to man.  Right through his captaincy, MS Dhoni craved for a seam-bowling all-rounder. Whenever India lost in Australia, South Africa and England, Dhoni would talk about the lack of a quality all-rounder. Now India have their man. The man from Baroda has represented the country in just seven ODIs yet, but his role so far has varied greatly, exposing him to different situations. He has taken the new kookaburra in five of those seven matches and has been highly effective, allowing Virat Kohli to hold back Jasprit Bumrah for later stages. From the Champions Trophy, he may return home as the all-rounder India had been waiting for.