Play Hardik Pandya in Tests

In the past, India has usually banked on the 6 Batsmen + 1 WK + 4 Bowlers combination. Depending on the pitch, India would play either 1 spinner or 2 spinners among the 4 specialist bowling slots. These 4 bowlers would be supported by batsmen who had extraordinary bowling skills such as Sehwag, Tendulkar and Ganguly. The 6th batsman, whether it was VVS Laxman or Ganguly, was impactful and among the best talents in the country.

For reference, below is the talent pool available for batting slots in the 1990-2014 period: 

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Primary team India

Opposition team Australia  or England  or New Zealand  or Pakistan  or South Africa  or Sri Lanka  or West Indies

Start of match date between 1 Jan 1990 and 31 Dec 2014

Qualifications runs scored greater than or equal to 2000  and batting average greater than or equal to 40

Ordered by batting average (descending)

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Showing 1 - 10 of 10

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Overall figures

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	100	50	0
SR Tendulkar	1990-2013	180	300	28	13968	241*	51.35	43	63	13
R Dravid	1996-2012	147	261	27	11726	270	50.11	30	57	6
V Sehwag	2001-2013	96	168	4	8151	319	49.70	23	28	16
CA Pujara	2010-2014	27	48	4	2073	206*	47.11	6	6	1
VVS Laxman	1996-2012	125	213	32	8384	281	46.32	16	55	14
NS Sidhu	1990-1999	36	53	0	2450	201	46.22	7	11	5
M Azharuddin	1990-2000	62	92	6	3932	192	45.72	15	12	3
V Kohli	2011-2014	32	57	4	2354	169	44.41	9	10	4
SC Ganguly	1996-2008	99	169	16	6311	239	41.24	13	31	12
G Gambhir	2004-2014	50	91	3	3521	206	40.01	7	19	6

Bowling during the 1990-2014 period:

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Primary team India

Opposition team Australia  or England  or New Zealand  or Pakistan  or South Africa  or Sri Lanka  or West Indies

Start of match date between 1 Jan 1990 and 31 Dec 2014

Qualifications wickets taken greater than or equal to 100

Ordered by bowling average (ascending)

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Overall figures

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	5	10
R Ashwin	2011-2014	23	42	1160.4	226	3403	114	7/103	12/85	29.85	2.93	61.0	9	2
PP Ojha	2009-2013	23	46	1234.1	293	3294	109	6/47	10/89	30.22	2.66	67.9	7	1
A Kumble	1990-2008	121	216	6357.0	1447	17248	566	10/74	14/149	30.47	2.71	67.3	33	8
J Srinath	1991-2002	58	103	2153.4	500	6269	203	8/86	13/132	30.88	2.91	63.6	9	1
Harbhajan Singh	1998-2013	91	166	4310.0	779	12323	376	8/84	15/217	32.77	2.85	68.7	24	5
Z Khan	2001-2014	79	139	2759.0	559	8921	259	5/29	9/134	34.44	3.23	63.9	9	0
I Sharma	2007-2014	58	101	2003.3	373	6716	177	7/74	10/108	37.94	3.35	67.9	6	1

WKs during the 1990-2014 period:

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Primary team India

Opposition team Australia  or England  or New Zealand  or Pakistan  or South Africa  or Sri Lanka  or West Indies

Start of match date between 1 Jan 1990 and 31 Dec 2014

Wicketkeeper as designated wicketkeeper

Qualifications runs scored greater than or equal to 500

Ordered by batting average (descending)

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Overall figures

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	100	50	0
MS Dhoni	2005-2014	87	140	14	4683	224	37.16	6	31	10
PA Patel	2002-2008	20	30	7	683	69	29.69	0	4	4
KS More	1990-1993	20	25	5	546	73	27.30	0	5	2
NR Mongia	1994-2001	43	66	8	1441	152	24.84	1	6	5

To summarize the 1990-2014 period: 

• Great pool of batting talent, many of whom had good secondary skills in bowling 
• Bowling talent pool was relatively limited. The bowling averages are 30 or more, while the SR is 61+ 
• Those playing as WKs averaged less than 40, which did not strengthen the batting as desired. Gilchrist, the benchmark, averaged 46 when you exclude BD and Zim  

Therefore in the 1990-2014, India had a strong case of playing the extra batsman, who was among the best talents in the country and when a bunch of those playing as batsmen could bowl effectively too as the 5th bowler. 

Let us look at the numbers from 2015 to Present period. 

Batting

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Primary team India

Opposition team Australia  or England  or New Zealand  or Pakistan  or South Africa  or Sri Lanka  or West Indies

Start of match date greater than or equal to 1 Jan 2015

Qualifications runs scored greater than or equal to 500  and batting average greater than or equal to 40

Ordered by batting average (descending)

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Overall figures

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s
V Kohli	2015-2019	43	71	4	4003	243	59.74	6768	59.14	15	10	4	425	10
CA Pujara	2015-2019	39	63	3	3181	202	53.01	7186	44.26	12	12	5	358	7
RR Pant	2018-2019	9	15	1	696	159*	49.71	943	73.80	2	2	1	70	17
RG Sharma	2015-2018	17	30	5	1009	102*	40.36	1810	55.74	1	9	1	86	25

Bowling

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Primary team India

Opposition team Australia  or England  or New Zealand  or Pakistan  or South Africa  or Sri Lanka  or West Indies

Start of match date greater than or equal to 1 Jan 2015

Qualifications wickets taken greater than or equal to 20

Ordered by bowling average (ascending)

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Overall figures

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	5	10
B Kumar	2015-2018	9	17	252.1	67	730	34	5/33	8/96	21.47	2.89	44.5	2	0
JJ Bumrah	2018-2019	10	20	402.4	95	1073	49	6/33	9/86	21.89	2.66	49.3	3	0
RA Jadeja	2015-2019	27	52	1259.5	316	2998	135	7/48	10/154	22.20	2.37	55.9	7	1
R Ashwin	2015-2018	39	74	1791.2	374	4972	212	7/59	13/140	23.45	2.77	50.6	16	5
Kuldeep Yadav	2017-2019	6	10	164.5	22	579	24	5/57	6/119	24.12	3.51	41.2	2	0
A Mishra	2015-2016	9	18	267.4	44	853	33	4/43	7/72	25.84	3.18	48.6	0	0
Mohammed Shami	2015-2019	29	56	848.2	160	2700	103	6/56	6/74	26.21	3.18	49.4	3	0
I Sharma	2015-2018	26	49	736.3	164	2001	73	5/51	8/86	27.41	2.71	60.5	2	0
UT Yadav	2015-2018	27	54	714.5	138	2367	70	6/88	10/133	33.81	3.31	61.2	1	1

To summarize the 2015 to Present period: 

• Only 4 batsmen average 40 or more. Rishabh Pant, who plays as the WK averages close to 50. Rohit Sharma's average is more condition dependent. We do not have batsmen who can serve as the 5th bowler like what some of those mentioned used to in the past 
• Almost all bowlers average less than 30 and also have a SR of less than 61. Though the performances of spinners and bowlers such as Bhuvneshwar Kumar are condition dependent. Unlike in the past, Bowling is the key strength for India  
• With Pant, we have a WK whose batting can be leveraged much like Gilchrist's 

Therefore, by playing the 6th batsman, who many times is more like a glorified nightwatchman, we are not necessarily strengthening our line up. The WK Pant performs better than the 6th batsman. Our bowling is more focused on picking wickets, which means that they prefer to be used in relatively shorter spells where they can bowl with all their force rather than bowling within themselves to get more overs in. To keep these bowlers relatively fresh and keep bowling them at their full force, the role of the 5th bowler gets paramount. 

Considering that now we have a) a WK that has the ability to average 40+, and b) batsmen who do not bowl that often and those playing as the 6th batsman produce diminishing returns, the best way to add the 5th bowler is to play an Allrounder (AR), who can add value to both bowling and batting. 

Hardik Pandya 

Among ARs, Hardik Pandya is unique in the sense that he not only has the ability to hit test 100s and change the game with his batting abilities, but also bowl at 140+. As a fielder, he is also among the best in the country. 

Below is Pandya's performance so far in Test cricket: 

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Pandya in matches won:

Records type all-round analysis [change type]

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Match result won match

Ordered by start date (ascending)

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For someone in his first season, the stats are good as:

• Pandya has mostly played in difficult batting conditions in SA and Eng, where many specialist batsmen have averages much less. In Asia, he averages 60+ with the bat. And has a 50+ score in each of the series he has played in  
• Pandya, a pace bowler, has bowled mostly with a relatively soft ball to bowl overs when the new ball is around the corner. His bowling average and SR improve when he bowls with a relatively hard ball where he won India a test in Eng with a career best of 5/28 

With most of the other ARs, we see that they have a dominant primary skill. Pandya is also unique as he does not appear to have a dominant primary skill.  Since he is equally good at both batting and bowling, one challenge for him would be to figure out the area of his main focus. Because he would be more of a 4th or 5th bowler, my recommendation is that he focus more on his batting. Pandya could use someone like Gilchrist, who is an WK AR and a flamboyant batsman who can change the game with his batting when playing in the lower middle batting order, as a reference for performances in tests. 

Another AR who much like Pandya is equally good in both departments in Jason Holder. Below is how Jason Holder performed in his first two years: 

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Opposition team Australia  or England  or India  or New Zealand  or Pakistan  or South Africa  or Sri Lanka

Start of match date less than or equal to 26 Jun 2016

Ordered by start date (ascending)

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The above shows us that unique ARs need some time to develop. ARs do not always appear ready made. Once such talent is identified, teams have to make an effort to develop them. Once developed, they become a force to be reckoned with as they can win their team games both with the bat and the ball. 

Considering the various points discussed with respect to current talent pool in batting, bowling and wicket keeping, Pandya should be played in tests especially on batting friendly and sporting pitches. By playing Tests, Pandya will improve as a cricketer which will help India in LOIs as well. 

The Pant-Pandya combination slotted at 6-7 is impactful and has the potential to become a game changer for India. With that, India can optimize its 5 batting and 4 bowling slots. To me, an optimized Test line up for 2020s appears like the one below: 

Agarwal

Shaw

Pujara

Kohli

Gill

Pant

Pandya

Pacer / Spinner per conditions

Kuldeep (can be developed as a most conditions spinner) 

Shami (Wicket taking pace bowler)

Bumrah (Wicket taking pace bowler) 

• Currently, Shaw, Gill, Pant, Panyda, Kuldeep and Bumrah are among the best talents in the country and 25 years old or less. If India invests in them, it can reap great rewards in near future

References / Acknowledgements: 

• Cricinfo for stats / numbers