Hardik Pandya‘s performance against Pakistan in the Super 4 stage last week has likely once again raised a few old questions: Can Hardik be trusted to be one of the frontline seamers and bowl his full quota of four overs in every game possible or should he be looked at as a stop-gap arrangement? After returning from injury, everything was going very smooth for the Indian bowling unit as long as he was delivering with the ball alongside his batting.

The Evaluation

Sanjay Manjrekar, a former cricketer for India, believes that Hardik should be added to the team as a fourth medium pacer rather than the third. Manjrekar believes that having the all-rounder as the fourth medium pacer in the squad would let him bowl less than his quota of four overs in case he does not deliver after Hardik leaked 44 runs in his four overs with only one wicket in the Super 4 match against Pakistan.

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“I think there were important lessons that came through last night and you could see Rohit Sharma on the field was pretty animated. I think they’ve made some important notes. One thing that came through for me and I’m sure for the team management as well is that if you at some point of time want to play just three medium pacers, Hardik Pandya cannot be one of the three,”

said Manjrekar on Sports18’s daily sports news show ‘Sports Over The Top’

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“Hardik is great when he knows that he is the 4th seamer, and he can afford to have an off day and somebody else will come and take over like (Ravindra) Jadeja could bowl a couple of overs and Hardik Pandya if he’s not bowling well, not getting wickets could be happy with two,”

he added

In their second match of the Super 4 round of the ongoing Asia Cup, India, under the direction of Rohit Sharma, take on Sri Lanka. The game begins at 7:30 PM and is held at the Dubai International Stadium.