Harbhajan Singh wants Hardik Pandya's all-rounder tag to be removed

Team India’s dismal show at the Lord’s has come under the scanner as they are being criticised from all the corners of the cricketing fraternity. Apart from Virat Kohli and the bowlers, none of them has lived up to the expectations. The role of Hardik Pandya is also being questioned even as Harbhajan Singh has come down hard at him and wants the all-rounder tag to be removed from the youngster.

Pandya hasn’t done much in the 5 overseas Test matches so far. His last Test knock with the bat came against South Africa in January in the first Test when he had smashed 91 runs. Also, that was the last game when he was picked up a wicket before scalping three wickets at Lord’s. In the second innings at Lord’s, he looked comfortable of all the batsmen and also stitched a half-century partnership with Ravi Ashwin.

But his contributions are nothing compared to the likes of Sam Curran, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes, the three England all-rounders, who have hurt India in both the Test matches.

The captain doesn’t seem to have confidence in his bowling

Harbhajan Singh expected Hardik Pandya to impact the game like those players but was disappointed with the way he has played so far. In four innings, India’s all-rounder has picked only 3 wickets and scored 90 runs. Sam Curran alone won the game with his key contributions for England at Edgbaston and then Chris Woakes went on to make the difference in his comeback game at Lord’s.

“He (Pandya) hasn’t got many runs as a batsman and the captain doesn’t seem to have confidence in his bowling. If he doesn’t bowl in these conditions then things will only get difficult for him and the Indian team in the future,” he was quoted as saying by India today.

He was also critical of Pandya and pointed out that he has to play the way the likes of Curran or Woakes and make the difference in the game. If he’s not being able to do that then Bhajji believed that it was better of removing the all-rounder tag from him.

“We have to remove the all-rounder tag from him as an all-rounder contributes in both the departments as (Ben) Stokes, (Sam) Curran did in the first Test and now (Chris) Woakes has done at the Lord’s. The same is expected of Hardik Pandya, he cannot become Kapil Dev overnight!” the 38-year-old said.

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