Sourav Ganguly column: Pandya the biggest plus for me from last series

India dominated the series in all aspects against Australia except for a few blemishes here and there after their Test series win in the early part of the year. They completed the cycle with a good performance in the shorter versions of the game.

The biggest plus for me has been Hardik Pandya. He has shown progression in his game and in the last few months, has evolved as one more match-winner for the country. He has natural talent, good temperament, be it batting or bowling and will need to keep on channelising this in the right direction over a period of time.

The likes of Manish Pandey, Kedar Yadav also need to be handled carefully. I know there has been some talk about the two but Virat Kohli has done the right thing by persisting with them. When you give youngsters a chance, you have to be patient with them which will finally give you dividends.

Also, Ajinkya Rahane: He has made the most of whatever opportunity he has got but I am sure, he too must have felt the pinch at missing out a few hundreds. Rahane needs to be kept in the loop as an opener for T20s also because he definitely has value at the top.

There is talk about how Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have played a good part in India’s victory and questions are been raised about the future of Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the shorter versions. No doubt Kuldeep and Chahal have bowled well but in Indian conditions, spinners generally fair well. It is too early to comment finally about the two as they still have to express their skill in conditions outside India and one shouldn’t forget that Ashwin and Jadeja are tested warhorses.

India needs to find a way to also play Shami and Umesh in the shorter versions. Bumrah and Bhuvi are bowling well but Shami and Umesh must be kept match-fit because if either Bumrah or Bhuvi gets injured, the replacements should be ready and in good rhythm. The key is to keep five or six fast bowlers in good condition and that can only happen by playing them at regular intervals.

About the Australians, one observation which keeps coming up is that there is no sign of improvement from them. Earlier, India and Australia didn’t exchange tours so very often like nowadays where there are frequent visits.

While the Indians have shown progress with every visit overseas, the Australians have only gone backwards. Many of their players play in the IPL and yet it is surprising how they have still not been able to show improvement in coping with Indian spinners and the turning ball, a factor which must be the worrying point for Australian cricket, Steve Smith and others back in that country.

Good players do that very quickly — Steve Waugh did, Hayden did, Langer did, and Gilchrist did. One must remember that like playing fast bowling, playing spin is an art which needs to be mastered, that is if you want to be a quality international player.

— Gameplan