As captain, Hardik Pandya has batted higher than norm for Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022 and former off-spinner Harbhajan Singh believes he should persist with it even when he turns out for Team India in the build-up to the 2022 T20 World Cup.
Pandya has been taking extra responsibility with GT, batting at No.3 or No.4 for the side rather than coming down the order as he has done for India and previously with Mumbai Indians in the Premier League.
Predominantly an end-overs powerhitter for all of his career, Pandya has opted to play a mix of anchor-aggressor for the Titans from the No.3 position, trying to guide his team through before exploding at the death.
Batting at No.3 against the Kolkata Knight Riders in Titans’ previous league-stage encounter, the 28-year-old played his team’s saviour with a composed knock of 67 off 49 deliveries, which helped his team stay intact in the contest and eventually pip over the two-time champions.
Harbhajan wants Pandya to play more such knocks for the Titans and for India in the near future, asking the Baroda right-hander to persist with his move even when he walks into the Indian team after the end of IPL 2022.
For the turbanator, Pandya has a fine “technique” and is a “proper” batter, who shouldn’t be pigeonholed as an end-overs specialist as he has the range to play a more wholesome role in any batting unit.
“He usually used to come down the order and smash big hits. Now, he had the opportunity to come to bat with 17-18 overs remaining in the innings, and he has looked like a top-class batter.
I would want Hardik to have such chances in the Indian team as well. You can have someone else as a finisher. If you have such solid players at number 3-4, you don’t need to send him down the order,”
the former cricketer told Sportskeeda.
Pandya is Titans’ leading run-getter at the end of the first nine games, having struck 308 runs at an average of 51.33 while maintaining a very healthy strike-rate of 135.68.
