The balance of the Indian squad goes away without Hardik Pandya, says Ravi Shastri

Hardik Pandya’s return to full fitness and his comeback to the international stage has been a big blessing for Team India. His arrival signalled exactly what India had been missing the last few months in his absence as Pandya brings a strong balance to the squad because of his all-round abilities.

Pandya’s form and fitness was under the scanner during the 2021 T20 World Cup in UAE. He hadn’t played a lot of competitive cricket in the buildup to the tournament and wasn’t bowling at full fitness either. All of it resulted in him being horribly out of form during the main event and he got dropped straight away.

However, the all-rounder made the most of his time away from the international level and continued his recovery at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. The IPL 2022 season proved to be the perfect launchpad for his return as Pandya, now the captain of Gujarat Titans, led the franchise to the IPL trophy in their maiden season.

He seemed to have reinvented his batting as well, adopting a more mature strategy and playing long-haul innings from the number 3 position. He also did extremely well with the ball and began reaching speeds of 140 kmph, signifying his return to peak fitness.

Since then, he has played 13 T20Is for Team India and has scored 281 runs while claiming eight wickets. Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has identified him as one of the most important cogs in the wheel and mentioned that without Pandya, the balance in the Indian XI goes away.

“He (Pandya) is one of the most important cogs in the wheel as far as India is concerned,” Shastri said in a press conference organised by Star Sports.

“You take him out of the squad and the balance goes away. That’s how important he is. You don’t know whether to play an extra batsman or an extra bowler.”

Ravi Shastri has advocated India to take care of Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah as he believes they are two irreplaceable players in the squad. As a result, workload management is of the utmost importance going forward.

“Bumrah and Hardik need to be observed very carefully to ensure there is no breakdown. They are your two important players,” he said.