The paucity of pace-bowling all-rounders in Indian cricket played a role in Hardik Pandya being fast-tracked into the senior team but he deserves credit for making the most of his rare talent, says former captain and under-19 coach Rahul Dravid.
“Hardik came into the team because of himself. He is the one who has put in the performances and he is the one who has that x-factor. When you are a fast bowling all-rounder in India, there aren’t many to compete with and that’s the reality.”
Dravid said having fast bowling all-rounders was always a luxury for the Indian team and Pandya has grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
Dravid also explained,“If you are a batsman or a spin bowler in the country, it’s tough because there are a lot of people you compete with, if you are a fast bowling all-rounder, you can count on the fingers of one hand.”
Pandya has played 32 ODIs and 27 Twenty20 matches and has taken 35 and 23 wickets respectively apart from scoring some useful knocks.
He also added that, “I can go back to the earlier selection committee, when I first took over the India A job. I remember in Chennai, even from that time, this thought was there that we need to identify fast-bowling all-rounder in future, Vijay Shankar, Stuart Binny played that role.
The former captain felt Pandya did well to latch on to the opportunities presented to him.
"So sometimes you know, sometimes it can happen with certain roles and specifics that people do get fast-tracked because the opportunity exists," Dravid explained the phenomenon of Pandya's rise.
