Hardik Pandya was compared to MS Dhoni and urged to take over as ODI captain early in the year. When asked if he minded filling in for Mahi, Pandya would respond matter-of-factly, “I don’t mind coming in and playing the role which somewhere down the line Mahi used to play.” The unexpected parallel weighed heavily on him, but he eventually conceded, “But I have to evolve, and that is life.”
It was a realistic evaluation, as mastering the ability to pass as someone else in costume is a unique and challenging skill. He must anchor occasionally, accumulate occasionally, and use the long handle occasionally. Sometimes he needs to play all three positions in the same inning. The fact that India has not yet found someone to fill Dhoni’s shoes speaks much about how challenging it is to master the variety of positions he held for almost a decade. His 87 not out off 90 balls against a fast and furious Pakistan side, though, proved that he was beginning to develop into a potential Dhoni replacement. This was a classic Dhoni-style blow.
When Pandya walked out to bat, India was 66/4 with more than 35 overs remaining, so they really needed someone to bat as long as possible. The two-paced pitch made it difficult to score runs in a straight line, so he relied on nudges and paddle-sweeps to counter spin. He used the angle to direct the crew as they worked, reducing potential harm. Pandya was unmoved by Babar Azam’s repeated attempts to get him to target high-profile figures while working alongside Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz. Not that he couldn’t have succeeded if he’d tried, but there were more pressing goals that needed to be accomplished first. He waited until the 72nd ball of his knock to hit a six. He got a four off the opening ball, but he only managed to hit one more ball over the fence in the following 32. Like Dhoni, though, he can keep the scoreboard moving without taking any unnecessary chances. Singles and doubles accounted for as many as 53 of his 87 total runs.
Hardik Pandya was doing a lot of things at once, including calming down his batting partner Ishan Kishan and forging a relationship that altered the outcome of the innings. For Dhoni, this meant going further into the game while simultaneously maintaining calculated risks. Pandya, despite losing Kishan, stuck to his original strategy to speed things up in the final four overs of the second powerplay in order to take advantage of the four fielders outside the circle. In the 40th over, bowled by Haris Rauf, he showed that he could let free when he wanted to. He pounded on him for a total of three lines, each blow a declaration of dominance.
There was no better time for the innings in which he served as anchor, accumulator, and destroyer. Pandya might step into the Yuvraj role for India at the 2011 World Cup, as the Indian batting order has not yet solidified. Yuvraj held the middle order together like glue. Pandya may be great at that part. Pandya enjoys fast bowling, which is a boon for a batting lineup that has historically struggled when facing strong pace assaults. He has averages of 69.66, 54.60, and 44.66 against teams with top-notch speed attacks, including as Pakistan, Australia, and England. He, like Yuvraj, could bat anywhere from 4 to 7, with 6 and 7 being his natural positions. He might be the team’s anchor-accumulator if India loses early wickets. Then, like Dhoni, he can close off games on his own.
Hardik Pandya, like Dhoni, did not appear to be an obvious choice for this position. He was known as the team’s designated hitter, or cleanup man. Dhoni was a big-hitter like that, too, back before he became one of the game’s best finishers. After the 2007 World Cup, he shown more nuance in his batting than just his reputation for unheralded power.
Dhoni moved himself up the order, often batted in second and third gears, and loved to take the game deep before unleashing his physical firepower with players like Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, and Yusuf Pathan on the pitch. Dhoni did a great job consolidating the starts and doing the rescues.
Hardik Pandya, like Dhoni, is fond of smashing sixes. He can do enough damage to the opposition when he’s in a rampaging mood, no matter how good the bowlers are. He can annihilate spinners and pacers with the same ease that Dhoni did. Recently, however, Pandya has shown a willingness to rein in that side for the good of his team, club, or country, allowing for other stroke-makers to play around him. It was first misunderstood that he had more than one batting gear.
This change, however, does not occur instantly. Pandya’s game has always included more than just his ability to hit for a high batting average, but his other talents have been underappreciated and have only seldom shone. The media has always paid greater attention to his physical prowess, bowling ability, and, more recently, leadership qualities (his captaincy in the IPL has been compared to that of Dhoni). But it needed a Dhoni-esque rescue effort on the same field where he earned his only Test hundred to bring his batting prowess to the forefront. Pandya may confidently claim to have progressed after this setback.