India bolstered by return of Pandya the bowler
Even if Hardik Pandya hadn’t struck a swashbuckling 71 off 55 balls in the third ODI on Sunday and a 33-ball 51 in the first T20I on July 7, his contribution to India’s ODI and T20I series wins on the justended tour of England would have been no less significant. His batting in the shorter formats, of course, has never been a matter of great concern. When it comes to the 28-year-old, the issue has always about his fitness to bowl his quota of overs and ability to lend balance to the side as an allrounder.
As things stand, he’s doing far more than just chipping in with a few overs. Across the T20Is and ODIs against England, Pandya came up trumps with the ball at key junctures. He ended with 11 wickets, including fourfors in the first T20I at Southampton and final ODI in Manchester. It is arguably India’s biggest take away from the limitedovers leg of the tour. It’s perhaps coincidental that Pandya also starred with the bat in these two games, becoming the first Indian to score a half-century and take four or more wickets in ODIs and T20Is.
At Old Trafford on Sunday, Pandya was particularly impressive with his use of the short ball. Each of his four wickets was courtesy of him bending his back and testing the England batters on the back foot. Eight of his 11 wickets on the tour came in this fashion.
When he was thrown the ball in the 10th over, England were scoring at more than seven per over with Jason Roy and Ben Stokes briskly adding 54 runs for the third wicket. Roy had taken a toll of anything short, but Pandya was willing to try his luck. After four deliveries on a good or full length, he banged one short and promptly got Roy to top edge, Rishabh Pant taking the catch. The other bowlers might have been justified in wondering how Roy was punishing their short deliveries, but this was an apt example of Pandya’s wickettaking knack. Four overs later, his dismissal of Stokes revealed Pandya’s shrewdness too. Seeing the batter make room while charging down the track, he not only directed a sharp bouncer at the left-hander but also ensured the line didn’t allow his freeing the arms. Stokes awkwardly fended, providing a return catch to Pandya.
“I think I bowl smartly. I bowl as quickly as possible only when required. A couple of games back, I was bowling in the low 130s because of the game situation. It’s not that I was not able to bowl faster. Today, the boundaries were bigger and I wanted them to take on the square boundaries. That is the reason I was bending my back and fancying my chances,” Pandya told reporters after achieving careerbest figures of 4/24.
Pandya is theoretically India’s sixth bowling option, after the four specialist bowlers and Ravindra Jadeja. But he is playing the role of an enforcer when required. It is why skipper Rohit Sharma didn’t hesitate to introduce him into the attack within the first 10 overs in these ODIs.
His display against England is a decisive step in his resurgence that began in the IPL. Given the captaincy by Gujarat Titans at a time when he was out of the national team, he even opened the bowling in a few matches to show his readiness as an allrounder and ended a title-winning campaign with eight wickets at an economy of 7.28.
He was used only sparsely though against South Africa last month, bowling five overs in the five-match T20 series. Pandya admitted on Sunday he was searching for his bowling rhythm until the eve of the England series.
“After IPL, I bowled one over in the first game against SA and then did not bowl in a couple of games. As a bowler, it is very important for me to keep bowling. I was not finding the rhythm. Even against Ireland, I was not getting the rhythm I wanted,” he said.
Not one to usually train a day before the match, he decided to hit the nets with full intensity before the first T20I in Southampton. “I don’t have many skills to get the batter out by opening him up or nipping the ball back in and all that. I try to outsmart the batter and think a step ahead. For me, it is very important to find consistency. It is something I worked on. Before the first T20I, I bowled a couple of overs (at the nets) with my full run-up and full effort. That is when I found my rhythm. The four-for in the first T20 changed everything. It gave me consistency and confidence to pitch the ball wherever I want to.”
With the T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November likely to aid Pandya’s short-ball tactic, India will hope his rhythm remains unaffected at least till the end of the tournament.