Dubai: Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who produced a deadly five-wicket spell of five for 28 to wreck England’s hopes in the ongoing third Test match at Trent Bridge, seemed to have got the monkey off his back after being constantly compared with India’s former captain and legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev for a while.
It all began soon after his breezy knock of 83 runs against Australia at Chennai on September 17, 2017 when a few cricket writers compared his knock with that of Kapil’s breezy batting style. Pandya’s knock contained five sixes and five boundaries and came off 66 balls. Many compared his strokes to Kapil’s approach towards batting. Many felt he was as fearless as Kapil and may also develop into an attacking bowler like the former captain.
- Hardik Pandya | India’s all-rounder
However, despite following it up with a fearless 93 versus South Africa in Cape Town earlier this year, Pandya has often not been able to match the weight of expectations — both with the bat or ball.
After the five-wicket spell at Trent Bridge, he spoke his mind: “I am not Kapil Dev, never wanted to be. I am happy being Hardik Pandya and please allow me to stay that way. I have a lot of respect for the legend that he is, but I want to be myself.”
Pandya feels that the danger of comparison raises expectations. “The problem with this is you compare and all of a sudden something goes wrong and they are like he is not that (Kapil Dev).”
Last week, former West Indies pace ace and commentator Michael Holding had remarked that Pandya has failed as an all-rounder. He even remarked that Pandya is nowhere near Kapil and India needed to find somebody who could contribute more.
Tilting the match in India’s favour was Kapil’s forte. Pandya who does not believe in performing like anyone else, said: “When I am a batsman, I am a batsman. When I am a bowler, I am a bowler.”
Pandya is an intelligent bowler who knows how to use the wicket. Playing only in his 10th Test match, he is aware that he has to learn many more tricks of the game. At the age of 24, he has already played in 41 One-dayers and 35 Twenty20 Internationals.
Pandya enjoys adding a lot of variety to his bowling to make batsmen guessing. “I feel that if I keep on bowling the same way, they might get used to it. So I always focus on using the crease or even the line where I am bowling because it is very important, it makes a huge difference. If I go wide and I bowl the same ball the batsman thinks it is coming in with the angle, but if goes out — you get the opportunity of getting him out.”
