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World Cup 2019: Hardik Pandya's value addition: 10/10

Dubbed batsman who can bowl, all-rounder has bowled full quota of 10 overs in 2 of India’s 4 matches that has given Kohli cushion

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As India remain unbeaten in their four completed matches besides a rain-abandoned game in the World Cup, a noticeable feature has been Hardik Pandya bowling full 10 overs in two of them. In another, he bowled eight overs while he began his maiden World Cup game with six overs against South Africa.

Pandya averages 48.50 with the ball in this World up but more importantly, he has conceded 5.70 runs per over while picking up four wickets along the way.

The 25-year-old from Baroda has quietly gone about his business as a fifth bowler's role and done his captain a huge favour. He may not have taken wickets by the bagful but that role is left for the specialist bowlers Jasprit Burmah, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.

When Pandya went to the World Cup, he was tagged as a batsman who can also bowl, chip in with four-five overs to quieten things a bit and if wickets came along his way, they were a bonus.

But in sending down 10 overs in two matches – 0/68 against Australia and 2/51 against Afghanistan besides eight overs against Pakistan for a 2/44 return – Pandya has shown that he is ready to shoulder the responsibility of a fifth bowler's role all by himself to complement his batting abilities in the middle-order.

Of course, it is not in this World Cup alone that Pandya has bowled 10 full overs in ODIs. Prior to the World Cup, Pandya has send down 10 overs in 12 of the 45 ODI innings that he has bowled in.

Former India all-rounder Madan Lal, who played a key role in the 1983 World Cup triumph, told DNA that Pandya "bowling 10 overs in an innings solves a lot of problems for Virat Kohli".

Lal said: "It is very important that India need a bowling all-rounder, someone who can hit a quick 30-40 runs or even a fifty or a hundred but the more important thing is that he has to bowl 10 overs. Hardik is a key pin in the Indian team, he lends balance and I'm happy he is bowling 10 overs."

However, the 68-year-old Lal believed Pandya still had a lot to learn. "He has to work on his outswingers. An outswinger can get good batsman out. It is a lethal delivery. He has got the run up and the action. If he concentrates on improving his outswingers, he will be a champion," said Lal, who also served as coach and selector post his playing days.

L Sivaramakrishnan, former leg-spinner, said that Pandya "has a lot of scope for improvement".

"He is bowling too short. If only he gets his line and length and bowl stump to stump at back of a length. In the beginning, he was erratic. Now he has started to bowl 8 to 10 overs regularly," he said.

Sivaramakrishnan, however, threw a word of caution for Pandya. "Hardik must understand that his job is to create pressure. He feels he has to take wickets. He gets carried away and tends to bowl boundary balls. If you are expecting your fifth bowler to take wickets, then you are getting into trouble. It is like expecting your No. 9 to score runs and win you matches."

The 53-year-old Siva from Chennai said Pandya's role is to create pressure so that the frontline bowlers at the other end would pick up wickets. "It's the collective success of a bowling unit that matters more than individual numbers against their names," Siva said.

Siva, however, did not agree with Lal's suggestion that Pandya needed to work on his outswingers. "When Hardik comes in to bowl, the while ball stops swinging. So, why look for something that you are not going to get? That's why bowlers use cutters and slower ones," said LS.

He said that three factors would go on to make Pandya a genuine bowling all-rounder. "Firstly, the amount of work the bowling coach puts in with Hardik. Secondly, the mindset of Hardik to bowl a good, pressure-creating spell and not necessarily taking wickets. If you are taking wickets, fantastic. Finally, role defining, i.e. the correct information that is going to him from his skipper."

It is all about mind over matter, Siva concluded. "Hardik is an excitable young man. If he is able to control his line, that will control his bowling. In doing that, his consistency improves. Once he improves his consistency, he will start bowling 10 overs regularly and start taking wickets."

Pandya may not have done enough justice to his bowling skills yet. Earlier this month, legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev called Pandya a "batting all-rounder" and hoped "he can improve his bowling".

The ongoing World Cup in England is a perfect platform for Pandya to emerge as a genuine all-rounder, sending down 10 overs of useful medium-pace in conditions that suit his style of bowling besides his batting capabilities.

If he does that, Pandya will only enhance his stature in Indian, and global, cricket as an all-rounder and not just a bits-and-pieces cricketer.

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