パンディアのパラドックス！クラッチマッチでインドで最も過小評価されているペースメーカーの謎を解く

Hardik Pandya is the MVP of Indian cricket. Arguably, he would be the most important player in white-ball cricket alongside Jasprit Bumrah. While Bumrah has missed the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy, Pandya came up with another of his clutch performances in a high-octane India vs Pakistan clash. When Babar Azam was cover driving like a dream, it was Pandya who sent a frenzy in the Indian dressing room. In fact, Pandya took two of the main batters in the match as he also sent back Saud Shakeel, who made a vital 62.

Hardik Pandya the underrated bowler!

One would associate Hardik Pandya’s bowling as a regular pacer, who would ideally bowl in the middle phase just to get things going. He would hit the deck and entice batters to hit horizontally. But Pandya is a clutch bowler. He has that charisma and is a leader in himself, helping him to bowl with a variety. He does get help from the likes of Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Siraj, but to have such better stats is quite superb to have. Pandya almost takes a wicket in every other ODI.

Pandya completed his 200 international wickets when he got the important scalp of Saud Shakeel. With this, he also now has 10 wickets in 8 games. At the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, he took two wickets. Then at the ODI World Cup 2019, he again took two, that too, of Shoaib Malik and Sarfaraz Ahmed. Not to mention, his wickets of Imam and Mohammad Nawaz.

For those unaware, no cricket player has a better average difference (batting av. – bowling av.) than Pandya against Pakistan in ODI history. Below is the list of top players with the best ODI average difference against the Men in Green (min 8 matches).