Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan backed Team India vice-captain Hardik Pandya to perform well in the T20 World Cup 2024. He pointed out a few things about the all-rounder’s batting stance and said that if he rectifies, He will play an important role for the team. at the tournament.
Since IPL 2024 began, things have not gone Hardik Pandya’s way. The fan reaction after the Mumbai Indians captaincy saga seemed to have bothered him a lot as his performances dipped quite a bit in the tournament with both bat and ball.
Hardik Pandya did not look like a free man in IPL 2024 as he looked too hesitant and failed miserably with bat and ball as well as the team captain. There were even rumors that the all-rounder might not be part of the team for the 2024 T20 World Cup.
With the T20 World Cup 2024 just around the corner, Hardik Pandya’s form will be one of the biggest concerns for the Indian team. However, with him being the vice-captain of the team and all the pressure of performance on him, the big question remains whether he can perform.
Irfan Pathan in a conversation with Times Now spoke about Hardik Pandya and stated that the all-rounder’s striking ability has decreased. He said that the Indian vice-captain changed his stance to bat in the middle, which hampered his batting ability.
Pathan added that if Hardik Pandya has to get back to his batting best, he needs to bat in his old stance. He added:
“Hardik’s batting ability has gone down, we all know that. He probably wants to improve the order. If you look at his stance, he used to have the wider stance. The wider stance as a batsman gives you a good base. But in the In the last year and a half, his posture has reduced.
“When you really have that stance, you have a lot more free movement and you want the ball to do something as far as your technique goes. I really think that if he wants to play that kind of role then he has to go back to his old stance. Which is batting very close to the stumps and will give you a great foundation as far as batting is concerned.”
Will play important role in World Cup – Irfan Pathan on Hardik Pandya
Irfan Pathan pointed out that if Hardik Pandya replicates his bowling from the last few games in IPL, it will boost his confidence in batting. He added that if the all-rounder does everything right, he will play an important role for the team. He elaborated:
“Another thing, if his bowling gets going like in the latter part of the IPL, it will also help his batting. He mainly comes into the team as an all-round batsman and as an all-rounder if you do something right. It will help in other ways too. “I am sure that when the World Cup comes he will solve his batting problems and once he does he will play an important role in the World Cup.”
In IPL 2024, Hardik Pandya scored 216 runs at an average of 18.00 and a strike rate of 143.04, with a best score of 46. He also took 11 wickets at a poor average of 35.18 and a strike rate of economy of 10.75.