Hardik Pandya is eager to take on "finishing" responsibilities

Hardik Pandya has been a meteoric rise in Indian cricket. From being an exciting young talent playing for Baroda in domestic cricket and Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, he has gone on to become an important part of the current Indian squad in the limited-overs format. Given his exemplary run in the past one year, Pandya’s being rightly considered as the successor of MS Dhoni as the “finisher” in the team.

The 23-year old has been playing the crucial role of an all-rounder to perfection. While his batting is considered as his primary strength, his right arm medium-fast bowling is a handy option for Virat Kohli‘s side. Pandya has been contributing to India’s cause in the ongoing series against Windies as well, having picked up 5 wickets in the four matches so far.

Eager to take responsibilities

Hardik has consistently been executing the big shots at the later stage of the game, making people believe that he’s the one to take over the responsibilities as the “finisher”. The Champions Trophy final, in which he waged a single-handed battle in a big chase, is one of the several examples where he has put his hand up. He wasn’t quite able to finish the game then, neither could he do that in the fourth ODI against Windies, but Pandya views them as learning experiences that can only help him get better as a cricketer.

“I feel that you should be brave enough to do things. I back my game, I back myself, I see the situation and I like to play accordingly. I don’t count myself as a one-dimensional player. I feel that I should see the scoreboard and play accordingly. That’s how I’m going to learn cricket and that’s how I’m going to make sure that I finish the games,” he was quoted as saying by cricbuzz.

However, he also feels that he can play the gritty knocks as and when his team requires. “I’ve been known for my sixes but I’ve played those (hard-working) innings as well. Throughout my life I’ve batted at a number where I can just go out and hit from the first ball. In the last game (4th ODI against the Windies), the situation required me to play for singles, which I was doing. Unfortunately, I got out but my plan was always that I should finish the game, take the game deep,” Pandya added.