Roger Binny : Hardik Pandya does not contribute with the bat
Former India selector Roger Binny has come out in the open to claim that Hardik Pandya does not deserve to be called as an ‘all-rounder’ as he doesn’t contribute much with the bat. He insisted that Pandya needed to play a lot of first-class cricket before being compared to the likes of Kapil Dev.
Binny, the father of Stuart Binny, has questioned Hardik Pandya’s consistency amidst a few disappointing outings with the bat in the recently concluded ODI series in South Africa. The so-called cricketing prodigy has managed to score just 26 runs in four matches at a dismal average of 8.67. He also managed to claim just four wickets in the 4 ODIs, although India went on to pull off a stunning demolition of the home team by a scoreline of 5-1, thanks to their wrist spinners. Roger was quick to point out that if it wasn’t for Pandya’s performance with the ball, he wouldn’t have been able to cement a place in Kohli’s team.
“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. 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,” TOI quoted Binny saying.
Roger has claimed that Pandya, who managed to put up in a decent performance with the bat in the three-match Test series last month, has lacked the experience and has also advised the Baroda-born lad to gain some more experience in the domestic first-class games. He also added that Pandya still has a long way to go before he could be compared to the likes of world-cup winning captain Kapil Dev amongst others.
“As a batsman, he’s no match 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,” he concluded.
From the Editor:The article has been changed from the original one published after we realized that it was Roger Binny and not Stuart Binny who had made the comments. We apologize for failing to spot it initially.
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