HARDIK PANDYA IN BIG ROLE IN FUTURE TIME

THE BIG ROLE

With focus and fire, Hardik Pandya takes a step up

Virat Kohli has said Hardik Pandya can do the job for India that Ben Stokes does for England. © AFP

Hardik Pandya has had to endure a topsy-turvy start to his international career. He was fast-tracked into the T20I set-up in Australia last year, and played a barrage of T20s, including the World T20 semi-final against West Indies. Soon he saw himself in the ODI squads as well. And finally, after injuries had robbed him of chances of a Test debut in India, he turned up in whites for his country in Sri Lanka.

Pandya is from the IPL bloodline, a product of a tournament that is as used to throwing people into the spotlight as it is to chucking them into oblivion. He has been part of Mumbai Indians since 2015, and has grown up being part of a side full of superstars. He would party as hard as he would play, with West Indians for company. He had the absolute best in the business to guide him, and was marked as one with potential - a hard hitter, good fielder and a useful bowler.

With India too, he made quite an impact. It helped further that India were on the lookout for just that kind of a player. He was erratic, underlined by his 11-ball first over in international cricket, but was also mostly apt for the job at hand. Pandya was the bits-and-pieces cricketer for India, a jack of many trades, but his influence in each of the departments were slowly growing.

Now pushed into Tests, Pandya continues to prove that he is more than capable of holding on to his spot. So much so that Virat Kohli even said Pandya can do the job that Ben Stokes does for England. There may have been giggles under the breath at the statement, because Pandya still has a long way to go and in all formats, but it showed how much the Indian management thinks of him.

And Pandya has repaid that with not only sound performances, but also with great discipline. Often tagged happy-go-lucky, party-goer and with his head in the clouds, Pandya has shifted all his focuses on cricket. The parties, the glitz and the glamour have taken a back seat, and cricket drives his life now.

The results are showing too. In the two Tests he's played so far, Pandya played small but significant roles. In Galle, he cracked a 50 on debut to help India scale the 600-run mark in their first innings and further deflate the hosts. He returned to take a wicket later in the game. He was also full of energy in the field, showing clearly that he's capable of altering match situations with moments of brilliance. But this was expected off Pandya. His big hitting exploits are well known, and have been on display regularly. The same can be said about his fielding. It was about how he would shape up for India with the ball that would define him.

In limited overs cricket, Pandya looks like the bowler who only has two lengths. His go to length is the short of length delivery, with an attempted bouncer thrown in-between, while as a change up he uses a full ball that is much slower. Resting hopes on a bowler with such limited ingredients would have been a folly. But Pandya showed in his second Test, that there is more to him.

At the SSC, Pandya repaid his captain's faith. In the second innings, as India were struggling for a breakthrough, the allrounder fashioned one with some clever bowling. Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis had sent India on a leather hunt with a superb counter-attack, and with India desperate for a break, Pandya answered his team's desperate call.

He had Mendis out with an off-cutter. The pitch at the SSC was slow and was taking turn, and Pandya was able to adapt quickly to the conditions and get the danger man out. Later on in the game, he had Niroshan Dickwella out caught at gully with a full wide ball. The previous over to the batsman, Pandya had stuck to bowling cutters on a good length, even beating the bat twice, but in the next over, he surprised Dickwella with a full, fast delivery. The batsman's late adjustment meant he was out caught at gully.

You could swat away both wickets as luck, or perhaps give some credit where due and tip your hat at Pandya. He may have to prove himself time and time again, against tougher opposition, in tougher conditions and during tougher situations before he gets close to doing what Ben Stokes does for England. But Pandya is doing his own reputation and future no harm with the kind of performances and commitment he's showing.