Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has backed Deepak Hooda to come into the playing XI if the team’s think tank decides to rest Hardik Pandya against the Netherlands. The Indian all-rounder was at his best against Pakistan in the big game at the MCG on Sunday, which India won by four wickets.
Pandya rattled Pakistan’s middle order as he snared three wickets and conceded 30 runs in his fine spell. Subsequently, he scored a pivotal knock of 40 runs off 37 balls and went on to add 113 runs with Virat Kohli for the fifth wicket to help India get back into the contest while they were chasing 160.
However, Pandya was struggling with his running at the fag end of the innings and Gavaskar feels the all-rounder should be rested if he has a niggle as the Sunday match against South Africa will be a big game.
Sunil Gavaskar said while talking to Sports Tak, ”Well if he has a bit of a niggle, it makes sense to rest him because the game on Sunday against South Africa is going to be a big game too. So I think anybody who’s got a bit of a niggle, you want to keep them a little fresh for Sunday’s game. But again, it’s a T20 format and you don’t want to take a team lightly.”
“I think I would like to see Deepak Hooda in the team simply because if Hardik Pandya is not there then you have Dinesh Karthik coming in at No. 5. And that might be just a little bit of a concern because if early wickets fall down then you might be just short of batting.”
Deepak Hooda can also roll over his arm and bowl off-spin. However, Gavaskar feels Hooda might not bowl but he is going to strengthen India’s batting order.
“So I do believe you should bring Deepak Hooda and let him bat at No. 5 and that will take care of Hardik Pandya’s overs. Deepak Hooda doesn’t have to bowl his full quota of overs and Axar Patel can bowl the remaining overs and we will still get 20 overs done.”
Apart from Deepak Hooda, India can also play Harshal Patel in the final XI if they decide to rest Hardik Pandya. However, India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey has revealed that Pandya wants to play all the games.
India will take on the Netherlands on Thursday at the SCG.
