Hindustan Times (Chandigarh)

Pandya’s five sets up Test for India ...answers experts who questioned his all-round credential­s

Seamer helps visitors take 168run lead before batsmen add to England misery

- N Ananthanar­ayanan

after being asked to bat first by England skipper Joe Root.

But the shaky England batting unit was brought to its knees in one of the finest demonstrat­ions of consistent seam bowling by an Indian team.

There was no inkling of what was to come as Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah were not consistent and let England reach 46/0 at lunch.

But Ishant Sharma demonstrat­ed the value of bowling a fuller length and getting the ball to swing and seam.

He removed two top-order batsmen before Pandya got into action.

He bowled just 3 balls on or outside the leg-stump out of the 36 he bowled in the spell

Bowling: M Shami 10-2-56-1; J Bumrah 12.2-2-37-2 (2nb); R Ashwin 1-0-3-0; I Sharma 9-232-2; H Pandya 6-1-28-5. NOTTINGHAM:MUCH like India Test openers suffered while being compared with Sunil Gavaskar until Virender Sehwag arrived and set his own rules tackling the new ball, Hardik Pandya’s credential­s as an all-rounder have also been questioned.

On Sunday, the 24-year-old cricketer laid a marker with a sensationa­l spell of 5/28, his maiden five-wicket innings haul in Tests, to rout England for 161 in the third Test at Trent Bridge on Day 2 to give India, down 0-2 in the series, a great chance to pull one back. Pandya bowled at lively pace, and importantl­y pitched the ball up to exploit great seaming conditions as India pacers claimed all 10 wickets in a single session after lunch.

Everyone acknowledg­es Pandya is a fantastic limited-overs player, an integral part of ODI and T20 sides as well as IPL team, Mumbai Indians. They also see him as a rare seam-bowling allrounder of internatio­nal standing India has produced. However, he has also been caught in a needless comparison.

Teased at first as India’s new Kapil Dev, it took on a life of its own. Soon experts, especially those who had played with or against India’s 1982 World Cupwinning skipper, one of the finest all-round cricketers the game has seen, frowned at the comparison.

Former West Indies pace great Michael Holding, doing TV commentary in the series, has more than once said there can’t be comparison­s with Kapil.

However, it took one gloomy afternoon for Pandya to chip away at that image.

Pandya was brought on by skipper Virat Kohli with England 82/3 and looking shaky against seam. The spell he bowled left even Gavaskar, here for TV commentary, raving and also pointing out the high 80 mphs notched by him. He had England skipper Joe Root caught at second slip by KL Rahul with his first delivery. The aggressive Jonny Bairstow too fell to the same combine. He then showed true aggression to force Chris Woakes, centurion in the second Test, to nick behind the stumps before switching back to length balls and getting rid of Adil Rashid and Stuart Broad.

BRIGHT START

It was Pandya’s energy in limitedove­rs that saw Kohli back him to make his Test debut on last year’s Sri Lanka tour. He hit a century in his third Test, 108. The blistering 93 he struck in the first Test at Cape Town, off just 95 delivery, also pointed to the promise he held with the bat.

Although India lost that first Test of the series, Pandya was the highest scorer on a tough pitch, against South Africa’s strong pace attack. However, his low scores in this series and a lack of penetratio­n as a support seamer had left some doubts.

Before the Trent Bridge Test, he had 10 wickets in nine matches with a best of 3/66.

 ?? REUTERS ?? Hardik Pandya became the third Indian to pick five wickets in an innings at Trent Bridge after Zaheer Khan and Bhuvneshwa­r Kumar.
REUTERS Hardik Pandya became the third Indian to pick five wickets in an innings at Trent Bridge after Zaheer Khan and Bhuvneshwa­r Kumar.
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