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Mohammad Nawaz vs Hardik Pandya: Analysing Pakistan's no. 1 T20I all-rounder's roadmap



Mohammad Nawaz and Hardik Pandya - (Source: AFP)Mohammad Nawaz and Hardik Pandya - (Source: AFP)

Pakistan cricket is again on the rise before 2026 T20 World Cup as the Men in Green reached the Asia Cup finals, beat Sri Lanka at home in T20Is and are now making waves in the tri-series at home. The common factor behind the rise and success in recent times is Mohammad Nawaz's form. The 31-year-old is breathing fire as the left-arm spinner has taken 31 T20I wickets this year in just 21 innings.

Further, Nawaz has contributed 331 runs for Pakistan in 2025 and has been their best player of the year so far. The Men in Green would hope for Nawaz to extend his form and take it to the World Cup to bring silverware.

The fans are going gaga over Nawaz and hailing him as Pakistan's best all-rounder in the shortest format of the game. Talking about counterparts, then Hardik Pandya holds the same title in Indian cricket as fans hail him as the best all-rounder that the Men in Blue have produced in the country. Therefore, this article will shed light on Nawaz's performance and compare him with Hardik Pandya.

Mohammad Nawaz's performance in 2025 and how it has been his best year

Talking about Mohammaz Nawaz, the Pakistan all-rounder made his T20I debut in 2016, but it took him nine-long years to get to his prime. Nawaz has taken 31 T20I wickets and amassed 331 runs in this year. Let's look at a detailed analysis of his stats in 2025.

Criteria
Data
Innings20
Runs331
Average19.47
Strike-rate136.77
Wickets31
Bowling strike-rate12.5
Bowling average
13.74

Let's look at how has Nawaz performed across in last five years and how he peaked at the right time for the Men in Green.

Criteria
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
Innings20322111
Runs331505
299110
Average19.4725.00-17.5822.00
Strike-rate136.77178.57166.66128.87152.77
Wickets31302213
Bowling strike-rate12.524.0-1927.23
Bowling average
13.7434.33
-24.4021.6

The picture painted here is quite clear that Nawaz didn't get the opportunities he deserved post 2022, which includes the famous final over in 2022 T20 World Cup match vs India and as soon as PCB rectified their mistake, thing turned out well for the Men in Green. 

Now, let's compare Nawaz's stats with Hardik Pandya

Mohammad Nawaz vs Hardik Pandya: The better all-rounder

Let's look at Nawaz and Pandya's overall stats.

Criteria
Mohammad Nawaz
Hardik Pandya
Innings78
94
Runs808
1860
Average18.7927.35
Strike-rate135.34141.03
Wickets81
98
Bowling strike-rate18.319.3
Bowling average
22.06
26.58
  • If we look at the stats, Hardik has better data than Nawaz with an average of 27.35, whereas his Pakistani counterpart has an average of 18.79 with the bat. However, when it comes to the bowl, interestingly, Nawaz has a strike-rate of 18.3, whereas Pandya has 19.3.
  • Despite Pandya taking more wickets than Nawaz in T20I cricket, he has a better average than Hardik Pandya.

To further assess the two all-rounders, it is important to look at how have the players performed in cluth games, ICC events and finals. 

Mohammad Nawaz vs Hardik Pandya: The better all-rounder in ICC events and clutch games

Firstly, lets look at Nawaz's stats in multi-nation events, his performance vs India and in finals.

Criteria
Multi-nation events
vs India
In finals
Innings17
6
5
Runs260
79
80
Average16.2513.16
20.00
Strike-rate128.71136.20117.64
Wickets13
6
6
Bowling strike-rate21.00
15.6
10
Bowling average
25.23
22.16
10.16


Now lets look at Pandya's stats in multi-nation events, his performance vs Pakistan and in finals.

Criteria
Multi-nation events
vs Pakistan
In finals
Innings26
7
1
Runs48898
5
Average24.4019.60-
Strike-rate157.89115.29250.00
Wickets39
15
3
Bowling strike-rate16
11
12
Bowling average
21.71
14.60
18.33

The Final verdict

Overall, Hardik Pandya has better stats than Mohammad Nawaz both with the bat and the ball. With the bat, Pandya is far ahead of Nawaz and has contributed more. However, with the ball, despite Nawaz taking fewer wickets, he has a better strike-rate and average than Pandya.

However, the reason why India is winning trophies and Pakistan struggling lies in the fact that their star player falters in ICC events.

Notably, Nawaz, who averages 18.77 with the bat, has dropped to 16 in ICC events and only gets better if Pakistan reach a final. With the ball, Nawaz's strike-rate too goes up in multi-nation events, but does well when it comes to final. 

Thus, it is fair to say that for Nawaz, he usually sees a dip in his performance through-out the tournament, but lifts himself up for the final, where his stats are better than his overall figures.

However, it is exact opposite for Hardik Pandya. For Pandya, he is known for his clutch performances and shines with the ball against Pakistan, which is 15 wickets in seven games. 

Further, Pandya has been more of a clutch performer with the ball than bat as Hardik's strike-rate and both average has gone down when it comes to ICC events. 

To conclude, Nawaz is doing great, but overall, Pandya has performed when it mattered and the same needs to be done by the Pakistan all-rounder.