Hardik Pandya – The ‘all rounder’ who could make it big

Hardik Pandya – The ‘all rounder’ who could make it big: In the second round of Ranji Trophy 2015-16 games, Baroda registered a convincing victory by an innings and 113 runs over Railways at Moti Bagh Stadium, Vadodara.

The man who made it possible was the 22-year old all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who has been in the news lately for his exploits with the bat and the ball for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2015.

Winning the toss, Railways elected to bat. None of the batsman could withstand the fiery bowling attack of Baroda, spearheaded the young Pandya. Only the lower middle order batsman, Karn Sharma provided some sort of a resistance by scoring 84-ball 51 runs helped by 7 fours and a six in his 120 minutes of stay in the middle.

Ralways first innings ended at 166 runs.

There was a splendid bowling display by Hardik, who returned with the figure of 15-4-61-5. This has been his best bowling performance in an innings, thus far, and his maiden ‘five-wicket’ haul.

Pandya was well assisted by Swapnil Singh who claimed 4 wickets giving away 31 runs in 11 overs.

Baroda started off very well and with a century (122) from Deepak Hooda and significant contributions from Kedar Devdhar (88), skipper Adiya Waghmode (87), India international Yusuf Pathan (62), Baroda declared their first innings at 500/8.

After a successful stint with the ball, Pandya went on to score 64 runs off 85 deliveries, aided by 7 fours and 2 sixes in his 136 minutes of stay at the crease before he fell ‘leg before’ to Ranit Mali.

Having to score 334 runs to make up the deficit and some more in the second innings, to make Baroda again, Railways had a torrid time against the  Baroda bowlers who were unwilling to let their opposition, off the hook.

The bowlers kept the pressure on and led by Pandya they skittled out the opposition for a mere 211 runs, the only resistance coming from Prashant Awasthi (67) and Karn Sharma (51). Interestingly Karn Sharma scored the same number of runs in both the innings.

Hardik Pandya picked up 3 wickets, giving away just 30 runs in his spell of 15 overs, 5 of which have been maidens.

Sagar Mangalorkar, Yusuf Pathan and Bharghav Bhatt picked up 2 wickets each.

Baroda had an outright victory.

For his exemplary performance with the bat (64 runs) and with the ball (30-9-91-8), Hardik Pandya was awarded the Player of the Match. His 8/91 is his best performance in a match.

The young Baroda player was picked up by Mumbai Indians in IPL 2015 auction and he proved to be an asset for the team. He was bagged for his base price of Rs One Million.

Seizing the opportunity, in a match against CSK, Pandya scored a quick fire 21 runs off just 8 deliveries and also took 3 important catches to help his team win by 6 wickets.

He was awarded the Player of the Match

Later, against KKR in a ‘must win’ situation for MI to remain in the race for the top 4 teams, Pandya scored 61 runs off 31 deliveries.

This got him his second Player of the Match award in the season. He was also successful in winning the match for his team.

Having made his First Class debut against Madhya Pradesh in November, 2013, Pandya has featured in 8 games (15 innings) scoring 368 runs, at an average of 24.54, with 90 as is highest individual score. He has 3 half centuries to his credit.

Bowling only in 5 innings, he has picked up 8 wickets at an economy rate of 2.69 and an average of 14.50. His best bowling (5/61) in an innings and (8/91) in a match came in this game against Railways.

Here is a young man with lot of potential and if guided and taken care of, guarding from injuries, can go a long way and do national duty for a considerable period of time.

The absence of a quality all-rounder in the Indian dressing room should be a great motivator for this youngster to perform really well and grab the attention of the ‘men who matter’ in BCCI.