Hardik Pandya spends hours perfecting his power-hitting, reveals Zaheer Khan

Hardik Pandya spends hours perfecting his power-hitting, reveals Zaheer Khan

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Zaheer Khan has revealed that all-rounder Hardik Pandya spends a lot of time in the nets to achieve perfection and consistency in his power-hitting abilities. Zaheer has also noted that having Hardik in the side offers India the luxury of an extra bowler or batsman as situation demands.

After bursting onto the scene with a blockbuster 31-ball 61 for the Mumbai Indians against Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2015 edition of the IPL, Hardik secured an Indian team call-up with consistent performances at the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament. Since then, he has gone on to become one of India’s most important players and surely one of the top all-rounders in world cricket at the moment. 

After India’s semi-final exit in Hardik’s first 50-over World Cup, he had stated that his focus has shifted towards the next ICC event, i.e. the World Twenty20 in Australia next year. And that would be just the place for Hardik to showcase his consistent power-hitting in full flow. Zaheer, who has served as the bowling consultant to the Indian team since his retirement, has first-hand experience of watching Hardik practising the art. 

"Hardik has spent enough time working towards it (power-hitting). First and foremost, he is someone who likes hitting a lot of balls in the nets and work towards achieving consistency in his power-hitting. Over and above that, you have got to have the basic power-hitting ability, which he has. The practise makes it perfect," Zaheer was quoted saying by TimesNowNews.com.

While the T20 World Cup is still a long way away, India head coach Ravi Shastri has said that he is looking for a pool of 17 or 18 players for the event. Zaheer reckons Hardik’s inclusion in the side offers Shastri and skipper Virat Kohli the luxury of adding an extra specialist in either bowling or batting in the final squad.

"He does change the balance of the team, and that’s the balance which we were talking about. So, if a team has that kind of option, it really gives the side the luxury to play an extra bowler or an extra batsman. You can use his services as just a pure batsman and then add a specialist bowler, or you can just look at him as someone who will give you those four overs. And then play an extra batsman," added the 40-year-old.

After a break during India's month-long tour of West Indies, the 25-year-old returned to the national side for the T20I series against South Africa. Although he did not really get going with the bat, Hardik performed reasonably well with the ball. The series ended at 1-1 and the action will now shift towards the longer format when both sides will meet for a three-match Test series, starting from October 2. However, India has left out their premium all-rounder from the series as they focus on maintaining the workload of key players with the ICC Test Championship underway and preparations for World T20 in full swing.

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