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Lack of all-rounders? ‘There is one sitting at home’, says Hardik Pandya

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Although the Indian ODI team is full of highly talented batsmen and bowlers who can win the team games on their own on a given day, the lack of bowling from Hardik Pandya has thrown off the balance of the playing XI. The absence of genuine all-rounder has always been the Achilles heels for the Indian team in the past and it was clearly evident in the first ODI against Australia when captain Virat Kohli had no options but to throw balls to the only five bowling options he had at his disposal and consequently failed to break the momentum of the Australian batting.

In the middle phase of the game, when Steve Smith and Aaron Finch were going berserk against frontline pacers after getting their feet in the game, Kohli was left toothless and could not quite check the flow of the runs. 

Asked about India's issues on the field today, Pandya quipped that the lack of bowling option hurt them and that maybe the team management should have a look at the Pandya family to solve the conundrum.

"…maybe you can name it who all are there… maybe we should look in the Pandya family only," he said. Known for his exploits in the Mumbai Indians line-up, Krunal Pandya is yet to make his Indian debut.

On the other hand, a contentious issue of playing Hardik Pandya as a specialist batsman instead of a reliable Manish Pandey was settled after Hardik put an incredible performance with the bat scoring 90 runs off 76 balls in a losing cause.

Pandya further apprised about the status of his fitness and the bowling plans he has in his mind in the post-match press conference. He said that he is in no mood to hurry through, more so when there are more important tournaments such as the World Cups are coming. He also asked for grooming for more all-rounders in order to strengthen the bench strength of the Indian team.

"Even when I came into the circuit, I was not always the all-rounder which I wanted to be. But with time I groomed myself and became that bowling option. I worked on my bowling,” Pandya said.

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