Former Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar observed Hardik Pandya from close quarters during his stint with the national team. Bangar revealed Pandya has altered his batting technique as he is now accessing both sides of the wickets.
Bangar feels Hardik Pandya was mainly a leg-side player during the nascent stages of his International career. However, former Indian all-rounder believes Pandya has worked hard on his off-side play in the recent past.
Pandya scored a scintillating knock of 71 runs off just 30 balls in the first T20I against Australia as he scored all around the ground. The right-hander played a key role in helping India post a mammoth total of 208 runs on the board but his efforts went in vain as the hosts lost by four wickets.
The Indian all-rounder has been performing consistently since returning back from the injury and he has been delivering the goods for the team.
“There came a time in his batting wherein he was only targeting on-side. He was literally covering the stumps, and kept targeting the on-side. He had literally shut down his off-side.
“What he is doing now is, yes he is standing on the off-stump, but he is clearing his front foot and giving himself room to access both sides. That is where I think he has become such a destructive player. When a player of his caliber,” Bangar said on Star Sports.
On the other hand, former Australian opener Matthew Hayden also lavished praise on the Indian all-rounder. Hayden feels Pandya’s self-belief and the ability to handle pressure is taking him to new heights as a player.
“He has got such great belief, talent is one thing, but trusting the fact you can be a match-winner and deliver on the day. We saw in the IPL that he batted at No. 4. We all thought ‘uh, how is he going to go about it?’. But he batted so well,” Hayden told Star Sports.
“He is such an adaptable cricketer. He has grown a lot as a cricketer. The biggest thing is the belief in himself. His ability to be able to read the situation, know the pressure is there and then handle it and deliver, it’s taking him to new levels,” the former Australia opener said.
India and Australia will take on each other in the second T20I at Nagpur on Friday.
