Hardik Pandya lucky to be viewed as an all-rounder feels former all-rounder Roger Binny

India’s search for a decent pace bowler all-rounder has been a long one. Even since Hardik Pandya arrived on the scene, one would’ve felt, well, the search is finally over. He was rested from Sri Lanka series ahead of the tour of South Africa as he was regarded as India’s one of the trump card in the series.

In the first Test of the series, Pandya’s blistering counter-attacking inning made sure India gave some fight to the hosts. The innings from Pandya came on a tough pitch, and in a tougher situation as Indians were struggling big time. He was hailed by the pundits after the knock and was even praised by Kapil Dev, the man he gets compared with.

Then came the inconsistent Pandya. In a crucial time, he got run out in one of the most horrible ways where he didn’t drag his bat down while running. His batting didn’t help India’s cause in the matches. He could only manage 119 runs in next five innings in the Test series with a dismal average of 19.83. One can argue he didn’t get many opportunities with the bat but his wayward bowling didn’t help India’s cause either in the limited over series.

Lucky to be called an all-rounder: Roger Binny

Former India all-rounder Roger Binny feels Pandya is managing to keep himself in the playing XI because he is managing to chip in with the wickets. He also said that he is lucky people are viewing him as an all-rounder. “He’s lucky to get viewed as an allrounder. He doesn’t contribute with the bat. He is chipping in with the ball, and that’s why he’s been able to keep his place in the team,” felt the 1983 world cup winning side’s all-rounder.

According to Binny, people should stop comparing him with Kapil Dev. Binny said that before bursting to the scene, Kapil had scored runs in first-class cricket while Pandya hasn’t done anything in first-class cricket before playing the five-day format. He said that as a batsman, he is nowhere near Kapil Dev. “As a batsman, he’s no patch on Kapil Dev. Kapil got hundreds in first-class cricket before he broke into India’s Test side. Pandya hasn’t scored runs in first-class cricket before playing at the top level,” said father of Stuart Binny who was once regarded as India’s all-rounder but failed to impress in his limited opportunities.

According to Binny, Pandya has performed well in the T20s and on the back of his performance he broke in the Test side but Binny feels Test cricket is a different format altogether. He has got into the Test team based on his exploits in T20 cricket. Limited-overs cricket is a different ball game altogether – you can get runs in those formats because the field is spread out,” said Binny.

Binny feels Pandya should go back to domestic cricket and score runs for Baroda at the top-order which will help him to settle in and perform in Test cricket