The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 has seen a whole new version of all-rounder Hardik Pandya. Ahead of the tournament, fans and experts were concerned about his form as he was not a regular on the field due to a back injury. But the 28-year-old underwent a rehabilitation program at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru and made an impressive comeback.
In IPL 2022, he is not only bowling the full quota of 4 overs but is also batting with confidence. In the previous match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, he was promoted up the order and scored an unbeaten half-century while batting at number one. 4.
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Change in batting position could have fetched Pandya a good number of runs but his strike rate came down to 122.61, while his team Gujarat Titans suffered their first defeat of the tournament.
Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif has said that Pandya may have moved up the line-up to take on more responsibility, but his ideal role would be that of a finisher. While talking to Sportskeeda he said,
“Hardik Pandya has decided to give himself more time at the crease this season. His role for Mumbai and India was different and hence he scored just 1500 runs in 98-99 IPL games. His target is to score at least 400-500 runs this season. But I don’t think that’s his role. His role is that of a finisher who bats in the last five overs.
Kaif highlighted the struggle of wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade, who was not among the runs. The cricketer-turned-commentator said it is time for Gujarat to give Wriddhiman Saha a chance in the playing XI.
“They can replace Wade with Gurbaaz K Saha, who has excellent T20 numbers. Usually you don’t change teams and support players when you’re winning. But when you lose a match because of your batting, it is sure that a change will happen.
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Speaking about the overall performance of GT in the tournament so far, Kafi said, “Very happy with the way Gujarat has performed so far. Hardik Pandya is leading the team well and scoring runs. Shami and Ferguson are bowling well.”
“But Rajasthan is also playing really well and looking balanced both with batting and bowling. Buttler has already scored a century and Hetmyer is in good form. They have Chahal, Boult and the famous who are bowling well. It’s a great match,” he said.
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