Former New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori has put his weight behind Hardik Pandya to bat at number four for the national team in the T20 format. Pandya mostly batted at number four for Gujarat Titans in the Tata IPL 2022 and delivered the goods for his team.
In fact, Pandya has played the role of the finisher while playing for the Indian team and also played the same role for his former IPL team Mumbai Indians. However, Pandya wanted to play an anchor’s role in the Tata IPL 2022 and adopted a completely different approach as he batted with more responsibility.
Pandya amassed 487 runs in 15 matches at an impressive average of 44.27 and scored his runs at a strike rate of 131.27 in Tata IPL 2022 and thus played a huge role in the success of his team.
Moreover, Pandya scored an imperative knock of 34 runs off 30 balls in the run-chase of 131 runs against Rajasthan Royals in the final and added 63 runs with opening batter Shubman Gill after GT lost two early wickets. Furthermore, he scalped three wickets and conceded only 17 runs in his quota of four overs.
During a discussion on ESPNcricinfo, Daniel Vettori said: “If you can fit him in at No. 4, I think, go for it. That’s the perfect position for him. You don’t want to take anything away from the likes of Suryakumar Yadav. But, if this option is there, it will be great. As of now, though, it feels like he’s going to slot into No.5, with Pant potentially dropping down to six.”
On the other hand, former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar feels whoever made the call of batting Hardik Pandya at number four should be lauded as the move paid dividends.
He said, “Whoever made that call, we’ve got to compliment them because there was no prior evidence that Hardik is a No. 4 batter.”
“This is a guy who has some pedigree as a Test player as well. Even in Australia, in white-ball cricket, when he turned up as a pure batter, he was impressive. He has been one of the very few players in the IPL who has been able to play in the gear needed for those situations.”
Pandya also led from the front as he delivered the goods as a leader of the team. Manjrekar said Pandya looked comfortable in his role of captain after the first five matches for GT.
“Five matches into the IPL, you could see that he was comfortable there. Sometimes when the cameras are on, these guys know what kind of demeanor to carry. This guy was genuinely relaxed. He almost enjoyed the leadership. That tells you a lot about Hardik, but nobody saw that coming.”
