India vs England | Hardik Pandya cannot become Kapil Dev overnight, says Harbhajan Singh
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Reflecting on Hardik Pandya's performance in the two Tests against England, Harbhajan Singh believes the all-rounder title should be removed from his name as he can't become Kapil Dev overnight. Harbhajan has further compared Pandya's performance with the all-rounders of England for justification.
In the two Test against England, Pandya has been able to acquire only 90 runs, while snatching three wickets. Criticising Pandya's performance in the Tests so far, Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh believes that he has not lived up to the all-rounder title given to him and is undeserving of the tag. To justify his point, he has compared Pandya's performance to the all-rounders of England. Referring to the likes of Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, and Ben Stokes, Harbhajan stated that they have invested significantly in their team's victory as is expected from an all-rounder.
“We have to remove the all-rounder tag from him as an all-rounder contributes in both the departments as Stokes, Curran did in the first Test and now Woakes has done at the Lord's. The same is expected of Hardik Pandya, he cannot become Kapil Dev overnight!," Harbhajan told Aaj Tak.
“He (Hardik Pandya) hasn't got many runs as a batsman and the captain doesn't seem to have confidence in his bowling. If he doesn't bowl in these conditions then things will only get difficult for him and the Indian team in the future."
India had lost to England at Edgbaston by 31 runs followed by the loss at Lord's by an innings and 159 runs. Pandya believes that sometimes such things happen in the game and its part of the whole package.
“As a bowling unit, we tried but all of a sudden the ball stopped swinging and they - (Chris) Woakes and (Jonny) Bairstow - took the game away. It happens - I've seen in Tests. You get four or five wickets quickly and then you get one partnership. Even with our batting line-up, it has happened many times. It's just a part of the game," Pandya said after the match.
