It is just 13.3 overs into the
Indian innings. Normally the stage of the match where Rohit and Dhawan continue
to pile misery on the bowlers. Instead, Pandya comes into bat. He hardly ever
gets that many overs to bat on a normal day. But this is not a normal day.
It is the finals of the Champions
Trophy. Against their arch-rivals Pakistan. The team that supposed to be
knocked out in the group stages. The team whose batting was renowned for not
making 300 plus targets.
Instead, the scorecard reads
54-5. The best batting line up had wilted away in spectacular fashion under the
onslaught of Amir, who has just recovered from a back-spasm. Rohit Sharma, he
the sole possessor of double double-centuries in limited overs cricket, was
beaten for pace, swing and almost everything else for nought. The best batsman
on the planet, was worked out not once but twice off consecutive balls. Shikhar
Dhawan, who has engraved his name in Champions Trophy Hall of Fame, managed to
survive a bit longer, but soon nicked one in the corridor of uncertainty. Three
batsmen, who had piled up 900 runs between them with a combined average of
90.87, back in the hut for scores of 0, 21 and 5. Game, Set, Match.
*
14 overs had gone by. The
scorecard read 78-0. Pandya is brought into the attack. On a normal day,
Pakistan’s top order would have self-combusted in spectacular fashion. But
then, this is not a normal day.
The parsimonious Bhuvaneshwar
failed to get any swing from the placid pitch, Bumrah failed to get his
robotic-precision yorkers and instead started gifting no-balls and wides (3 and
5 respectively) and the spin duo of Ashwin and Jadeja were swatted around the
park like harmless flies. The newly famed bowling attack was taken to the
shredders.
*
(Source: www.cricinfo.com)
Pandya brought up his 50 with a monstrous
six off Shadab Khan, the third consecutive of the over off just 32 balls. On a
pitch that was nothing short of a batting paradise, he was the only batsman who
was striking it cleanly from ball one. This was not the typical ‘the-match-is-already-over’
mindless slog but a display of proper power hitting. Maybe, it was a bit too
late and eventually it would not have had any consequence on the result but it
showed promise of his potential in the days to come.
*
Pandya was supposed to be the
weakest link in the Indian attack. Bogged down by the nagging length of the
seamers and the accuracy of the spinners, he was the bowler the opposition
targeted. He was introduced only after Kohli decided that he could not hide him
any longer.
He hurried the ball, got them to
rap on the pads, skirted the outside edge more than once and by the end of his
first spell, his figures read 4-0-17-0. Not bad for the fifth bowler. Even as
Pakistan kept piling on the runs on a pitch that had literally nothing for the
bowlers (Amir and Co. would disprove that later in the day), he kept bowling
his heart out. He eventually dismissed Fakhar Zaman getting the centurion to
miscue a slog. Maybe it was a bit too late and eventually it would not have had
any consequence on the result but it showed promise of his potential in the
days to come.
*
The ODI format is undergoing
radical changes in a struggling bid to maintain its relevance. Even the
English, who had refused staunchly to change their playing style since the time
bowling was done a-la Trevor Chappell, have dusted their cobwebs, and embraced
the modern game with explosive batsmen who tee off from the word go. India, on
the other hand, largely continues to play percentage cricket with their frontline
batsmen taking time to settle before going for the big shots. The only
exception being Hardik Pandya who can go bonkers from the very first ball, as
was evident in the league match against Pakistan, when he was promoted ahead of
Dhoni and Jadhav to do the finishing duties.
*
India has been on an elusive
quest for a seam-bowling all-rounder ever since the days Kapil Dev enthralled
the crowds with his deadly out-swingers and fearless hitting. Not to mention
the shiny locks and striking moustache that had inspired the fashion sense of
an entire generation of cricket viewers.
It is too early to talk of Pandya
on the lines of Dev. His flashy chains, tattooed biceps and gelled hair may not
have the same effect as Dev. But his cricketing skills definitely show promise.
***
