Hardik Pandya conundrum forces India to live with tough choices for World T20

India made a couple of brave and some interesting/contentious selection calls in their squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup. 

While the exclusion of Shikhar Dhawan was on the expected lines, Yuzvendra Chahal ouster, whose underperformance was brushed under the carpet for a long time, was a brave call. At the same time, selecting as few as three pacers for the tournament was an interesting one, and when one considers the uncertainties surrounding the all-around abilities of Hardik Pandya, the move can safely be called a contentious one.

Hardik has hardly been an all-rounder in the recent past and although he bowled some overs in the Indian jersey, those were moments of desperation rather than tactics. 

Were selectors lost for the batting abilities of Hardik while selecting him in the World T20 squad? After all, he has been there in India’s white-ball sides as a pure batsman since his return from a career-unsettling back injury.

The selectors could also have gone in with the hope after positive feedback from coaching staff and physios who have been saying that Hardik is not too far away from bowling while selecting him in the side.

What’s the Conundrum?

Having made the decision to select Hardik in the side based more on the hope than his fitness realities, the selectors now face a tough task of managing the risk of missing out on a possible fourth seamer in the squad and seeing the opportunity of having him as a dasher lower down the order.

For every honest observer of the game, Hardik’s selection in the side as a specialist batsman would be a no-brainer, but the big conundrum for the selectors have arisen after his harrowing show with the bat in the Indian Premier League preceding the big global tournament.

He has looked like a pale shadow of his dominating best and while there is no doubt about his muscle and ability to hit the long sixes, the form factor is a big concern.

Had he been in the kind of form he was during the last edition of the IPL, he would have walked into the playing XI but things are becoming difficult for both him and the selection committee.

Now, selectors have to take a call on whether they want to stick with Hardik the batsman and accommodate another pacer for his lack of bowling by replacing one spinner in the squad, or to have him completely excluded from the squad. Also, they can choose to do nothing with and adopt neither of those calls, and any of the above three will have a big effect on the Indian squad and their chances in the T20 World Cup.

They can opt for Shardul Thakur, who is already in the reserves in place of one spinner among Ravichandran Ashwin, Varun Chakravarthy, Rahul Chahar and Axar Patel to bolster the pace/medium pace quotient of the bowling attack. Shardul can’t match the batting credentials of Hardik, but he can certainly be a better bowler than him and Virat Kohli can readily rely on him to produce two to three overs on the worst possible days.

Spinners aplenty but horses for courses

Removing any of those spinners will be a monumental call as all of them are there with specific plans purposes. 

While Axar brings similar qualities to the table as Ravindra Jadeja, he is a lot different from him and has a proud IPL record to deserve a place without hyphenation with Jadeja. 

Ashwin has been brought into the side to counter the left-handed batsmen in the opposition lineups and was selected only after the injury to Washington Sundar. Axing him after a celebrated recall would be a tough call for the selectors and also the team management will be wary of not having any specialist off-spinner in the squad.

Varun Chakravarty has been brought in to strengthen the mystery spin quotient of the bowling attack and he will be used sparingly against the teams packed with power players. His fitness has been doggy in the recent past but the team management will find it tough to leave him out if fit to accommodate another pacer in the squad.

The surprise and one of the two brave calls discussed above was the selection of Rahul Chahar over Yuzvendra Chahal. Chahar’s place can come under scrutiny as he lost his form and was dropped from the Mumbai Indians playing XI while Chahal picked up a bundle of wickets for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, but the debate of one over the other deserves a separate discussion. 

Whosoever gets the nod in the main squad, that both Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri value the role of wrist spinners immensely, it is tough to presume they will go without both of them in the world cup.

Then, where do the debate over Hardik’s place in the team and India’s choice of bowling attack end?

Will they be able to trust Hardik Pandya’s quality more than his recent struggle, and have him in the squad irrespective of his bowling fitness? Or, will they compromise with the variety in the spin bowling department to bring one more pacer in the squad, or else, will they back their selection calls to the hilt and trust the team management to extract the best out of the players?

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the selection committee reportedly got an extra five days to decided what they want to do with the issue of Hardik Pandya or to show a willingness to bite the bullet by making it look like a non-issue. Whatever they decide, it will have an enormous impact on India's chances in the world cup, and hence all the stakeholders such as the team management led by Kohli and Shastri, the selectors have their task cut out.