Dharamsala heroics show emergence of Hardik Pandya the bowler

[rkt.india]

International debuts provide a sense of excitement and pride but the sense of the occasion can sometimes make you extremely nervy or bring an adrenaline rush. Ten months ago, in January, Hardik Pandya achieved a dubious distinction on his debut in Adelaide against Australia. He bowled the most expensive first over by a debutant in T20Is. The over went on and on and on, it was an over longer than a Sunday afternoon visit to an elderly relative. Hardik is a confident boy but the nerves were floating and it was palpable. He started with three wides down the leg side to Steven Smith. He was also hit for a six and a four in that over which stretched to 11 balls with five wides. He ended up conceding 19. MS Dhoni took him off the attack straightaway. He registered figures of 3-0-37-2.

 

Fast forward to October, Hardik bowls one of the most impressive first overs one can witness from a debutant, against New Zealand in Dharamsala. And from then on, there was no looking back. This was a different Hardik that was on show.

 

On a pitch that always has something in it for the seamers, MS Dhoni decided to hand the new ball to Hardik to open the bowling. And the 22-year-old didn't disappoint. He drew an outside edge off Martin Guptill off just the second ball but it flew wide of the slip cordon for a streaky four. The next ball is in the corridor of uncertainty which catches Guptill in two minds whether to drive or leave. He ends up swaying away too late and the bottom edge flies wide of the slips again for a four. The third one is even better, it comes in with an angle and leaves Guptill at the last moment. A peach and beaten. Three good deliveries had already built the pressure.

Hardik, however errs off the next ball and gets thumped through point for four. Dhoni responds by bringing in an extra slip. Hardik regains his composure and bowls one on length just outside off, it zips and jags away. Guptill looks to push but is done in by the pace and movement. He ends up edging it to the second slip. Hardik has his man. He wheels away in celebration of his maiden ODI wicket. The over sets the tone.

*******

Hardik started off as a batsman who could bowl part-time leg spin in his early days. But after a point, he quit leg spin and started bowling fast in the nets. When the other sessions would get over he would hit the nets and try and bowl fast. However, the discovery of Hardik the bowler came back in 2013 via a club game. There was a green top prepared for a match in which his club was playing. The team didn't have enough good pacers so the management decided to try with Hardik. What next? Hardik ended up scalping eight wickets.

"He was bowling so fast, that the slips and wicketkeeper had to be placed 30 yards behind the stumps," Hardik's elder brother Krunal Pandya told Firstpost last year.

This is when he caught the eye of then Baroda Ranji coach Sanath Kumar and the journey of Hardik the all-rounder began from then on.

********

Hardik had endured a tough time over the last few months. After a poor IPL, he was dropped for the Zimbabwe tour. His batting and bowling form had both suffered a dip. He was struggling to get his lengths right and was bowling too short. He had lost a bit of pace too which gave the batsmen enough time to pull. However, watching him bowl in Dharamsala felt like a different Hardik Pandya had turned up for the match. He was hitting the right lengths and bowling in the corridor of uncertainty - that along with a hint of swing and seam movement made it difficult for the Kiwis. He was getting the ball to zip off the surface at considerable pace right in the mid 140s.

"I was focusing to bowl a good quarter length which would be useful off the wicket because if we were going too full, it was not doing anything but it was doing something from the length. I wasn't looking to bowl fast, just wanted to bowl with rhythm," Hardik said in the presentation ceremony.

Dhoni too suggested that the area between the good length and full length was the ideal one to hit on this surface.

"We had no clue that the wicket will help the fast bowlers so much. I felt what was good was the length. You don't have to bowl really up, it was ahead of the good length mark and just short of the full deliveries. That length comes quite naturally to Hardik so he exploited it the most," Dhoni said in the presentation ceremony.

Umesh Yadav ably supported him from the other end with, surprisingly unerring accuracy, removing Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson who succumbed to the pressure. Umesh and Hardik made good use of the pace and bounce of the wicket to mount pressure on the batsmen. Dhoni bowled the duo unchanged for nine overs before bringing on Bumrah who made sure that the stranglehold is maintained.

All this while, Pandya was bowling from the River end but after just one over of change, Dhoni brought Hardik back, this time from the College end. He struck straightaway off the fourth delivery as Anderson hit one uppishly to mid off and Umesh pulled off a brilliant catch. The poor shot was, again, as a result of the pressure created. Relentless that he is on the field, Hardik was rushing through his overs. The ball seemed to be stopping/holding a bit on length areas of the batsmen from the college end and Luke Ronchi was undone by that as he chipped one straight to mid on in Hardik's next over.

Hardik kept on probing outside off, teasing the batsmen which was the hallmark of his bowling throughout the innings. The pacers beat the bat 31 times in the first 15 overs while the Kiwis left alone 23 balls in the same period. Such was the accuracy. Off this, Hardik beat the bat 18 times and 12 of his balls were left alone.

Credit must be given to Dhoni who trusted Hardik to do the job with the new ball. He explained the strategy behind opening the bowling with Hardik.

"Our thinking was to use him as one of the three seamers and to give him a chance to exploit the new ball, the reason being we all felt he's got movement," Dhoni said in post-match presentation. "He can swing the ball even on the wickets where some of the other bowlers don't get that kind of swing. He's somebody who can get the purchase off the wicket so we wanted to give him a go with the new ball. Also Bumrah is very good in the middle overs where he can give me wickets and also at the death. So if I can save his overs, I can use him at any point of time," he added.

Hardik put in hard yards following the form slump and that seems to be paying off but most importantly, he realised that he needed to work on his bowling.

“After the IPL, I was out for two months. I worked hard on my game and that helped me. I got to know about my game and the areas I needed to improve. I wanted to work on my bowling and wanted to be more consistent at it and also get better at batting,” Hardik had told BCCI.tv before the match.

Initially when Hardik started off fast bowling, he used to get injured a lot. Almost every two months. He has worked on his fitness. He increased his strength which had an impact on the pace and somewhere down the line, the 'A' tour to Australia helped him.

The Champions Trophy will be held in England where the pacers might play a crucial role and this performance from Hardik has provided India a shot in the arm.

"I don't see any reason as to if he keeps performing the way he did in this game why he can't be our first pick from the three fast bowlers," Dhoni said in the post-match conference.

Hardik received his ODI cap from one of the greatest all-rounders in history of the game - Kapil Dev and incidentally it was the same day Kapil made his debut for India 38 years ago. A man of the match on a special day made it a perfect debut for the Baroda man. In Dharamsala, India might have witnessed the emergence of Hardik Pandya the bowler.

http://www.firstpost.com/sports/india-vs-new-zealand-dharamsala-heroics-show-emergence-of-hardik-pandya-the-bowler-3055586.html

[WC2011INDIA]

Hardik has a very good media manager.

[tweaker]

Dhoni has given him lot of confidence & the backing of him will help me to cement the place when Shami ,Bhuvi,Ishant returns.

[express bowling]

1 hour ago, rkt.india said:

 

Hardik started off as a batsman who could bowl part-time leg spin in his early days. But after a point, he quit leg spin and started bowling fast in the nets. When the other sessions would get over he would hit the nets and try and bowl fast. However, the discovery of Hardik the bowler came back in 2013 via a club game. There was a green top prepared for a match in which his club was playing. The team didn't have enough good pacers so the management decided to try with Hardik. What next? Hardik ended up scalping eight wickets.

"He was bowling so fast, that the slips and wicketkeeper had to be placed 30 yards behind the stumps," Hardik's elder brother Krunal Pandya told Firstpost last year.

This is when he caught the eye of then Baroda Ranji coach Sanath Kumar and the journey of Hardik the all-rounder began from then on.

 

 

This  is good news.   It means that Hardik has natural pace and  that is much easier to retain over a  long time.

 

I have often observed that  seamers who suddenly add pace,  often tend to lose it after a season or two, especially after an injury break.

Edited October 18, 2016 by express bowling

[rkt.india]

22 minutes ago, express bowling said:

 

This  is good news.   It means that Hardik has natural pace and  that is much easier to retain over a  long time.

 

I have often observed that  seamers who suddenly add pace,  often tend to lose it after a season or two, especially after an injury break.

30 yards probably is a bit exaggerated.

[express bowling]

2 minutes ago, rkt.india said:

30 yards probably is a bit exaggerated.

Probably....but the bowling quick part is hopefully true.

[philcric]

1 hour ago, tweaker said:

Dhoni has given him lot of confidence & the backing of him will help me to cement the place when Shami ,Bhuvi,Ishant returns.

Ishant is pretty much out of LOI set up. Aaron too.

 

Shami, Bumrah, Bhuvi, Umesh seem to be the ones in the 1st rung.

 

Mohit, Dhawal, Sran in the 2nd rung.

 

Did I miss any ?

 

[Mosher]

23 minutes ago, philcric said:

Ishant is pretty much out of LOI set up. Aaron too.

 

Shami, Bumrah, Bhuvi, Umesh seem to be the ones in the 1st rung.

 

Mohit, Dhawal, Sran in the 2nd rung.

 

Did I miss any ?

 

Aaron has hardly played any ODI's. His last ODI was some 2 years back against SL. Both Umesh and Aaron played in that match. I remember Aaron hitting 150K and troubling the batsmen with pace but he got injured in that match and has not any chance to play post that. He has remained injury-free for sometime now and looks to have improved his accuracy a bit. No harm in giving him a go in some dead rubber and see how he performs.

Edited October 18, 2016 by Mosher

[MCcricket]

Aaron can be a good Odi bowler, better then Umesh, he needs to be given more games, Dhawal is a Mohit a mediocre bowler at best, Sran has potential, wonder when will our selectors wake up n look at Aniket, Nathu.

 

Pandya bowled some very good wkt taking deliveries but is still new to the scene and we need to show faith, he has pace which is surprising almost bowled same pace as Umesh , he was a tad inconsistent and lucky as well but has shown lotsa promise.

 

Only worrying thing about him is hope he is not a Kambli like character as he behaves similarly sometimes, he can be our ODi n test all rounder as well as he at this point to me is better then Aravind, Mohit, Dhawal easily, naturally gifted and hope he is guided well and am afraid about Dhoni.

[Ankit_sharma03]

Coach Paras Mhambrey says Hardik Pandya worked really hard to get into the Indian team

 

Mhambrey said that Pandya was really sweating it out in India A's tour in Australia. He explained about how the all-rounder focused on channelizing his energy and bowl consistently.  "Pandya was in the limelight. And all of a sudden he wasn't there. He needed to find answers on where he was wrong, the areas he had to improve to make a comeback and sustain it. He is an exuberant guy and wants to do well. At times you can get carried away because of that as a bowler. We worked more on the mental aspect of the game than on the technical side." 

 

Dravid played a vital role in Pandya’s growth

Mhambrey also mentioned that Rahul Dravid played a vital role in Pandya's emergence as a much more matured cricketer than what he was a few months ago. He said, "Rahul spoke a lot to him on his batting and he was impressed with Pandya's abilities.

"With regards to his bowling, we asked him to hit the areas where he could set up batsmen. If you are able to do that consistently , then you are giving yourself an opportunity to get wickets. We spoke about being disciplined with his bowling. And we challenged him to bowl consistently on the three-quarter lengths in Australia as there is little room for error. I'm very happy that whatever he has worked on has helped him and he has made a strong comeback."

Mhambrey felt that Pandya had realised the importance of fitness in order to improve as a bowler. The all-rounder was frequently clocking around 140kph during the first ODI.

 

Mhambrey went on to say, "He is aware that his workload is only going to increase as he falls into the all-rounder category . If he has to be up there as an all-rounder, then has to be fit. That's something he has really worked on with the trainer. His self realization on the importance of fitness has helped him immensely."

 

Article- http://www.sportskeeda.com/cricket/coach-paras-mhambrey-says-hardik-pandya-worked-really-hard-get-indian-team

[express bowling]

We should have more A team tours and A team matches.

 

It is the right place for player development.

 

Nathu Singh, Kuldeep Yadav. Ankit Rajpoot, Aniket Chaudhury, Pradeep Sangwan, Shreyas Gopal, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Nitish Rana, Abhinav Mukund, Mayank Agarwal etc. should be part of the next A team and should have the opportunity to work under Dravid, Mhambrey etc.

Edited October 18, 2016 by express bowling

[sandeep]

The other thing we learned in the article (of course, if true) is that he only started bowling pace fairly recently - 2013.  No wonder he's raw and doesn't have much variety.  Its up to him now, to keep evolving and learn more tricks - He won't have too much success just mixing up lengths, needs to learn subtle change of pace, cutters etc.  

 

This is the IPL market effect at work.  Allrounders, especially Indian ones, command an extraordinary premium in the IPL auction - any decent batsman who could bowl a bit, has been working hard to try and strengthen that part of his game, knowing that even if India selection doesn't happen, he will be well compensated for that work.  

[rkt.india]

9 minutes ago, sandeep said:

The other thing we learned in the article (of course, if true) is that he only started bowling pace fairly recently - 2013.  No wonder he's raw and doesn't have much variety.  Its up to him now, to keep evolving and learn more tricks - He won't have too much success just mixing up lengths, needs to learn subtle change of pace, cutters etc.  

 

This is the IPL market effect at work.  Allrounders, especially Indian ones, command an extraordinary premium in the IPL auction - any decent batsman who could bowl a bit, has been working hard to try and strengthen that part of his game, knowing that even if India selection doesn't happen, he will be well compensated for that work.  

he was a leg spinner who could bat till U19 cricket

[sandeep]

1 minute ago, rkt.india said:

he was a leg spinner who could bat till U19 cricket

Right, so has only been bowling pace for a couple of years, may mean he still has room to improve as a pace bowler.  

[tweaker]

31 minutes ago, rkt.india said:

he was a leg spinner who could bat till U19 cricket

So this is very phenomenol.If as an batting allrounder ,has improved his bowling from leg spinner to a 144 kmph bowler in a span of 2,3 years.

 

Again he has shown lot of improvement from the last T20 he played & his first odi.

 

[putrevus]

The two wickets he got were more due batsmen mistakes than his skill as fast bowler. Umesh Yadav took a stunning catch for one of them that was more his wicket.Hopefully he keeps improving.

[maniac]

Good start to his career and hope he fills the much awaited allrounder spot but

 

• Still not sure what his primary skillset is.....Is he a bowler who can bat now? If that is the case can we honestly say that he can make it into the side as a bowler alone ahead of Bhuvi
• Got 3 wickets....2 of which were bad shots but still a wicket is a wicket fluke,bad umpiring decision,bad shot whatever the reason may be...he had the numbers so credit to him.
• On such green tracks will he be able to run through sides?
• On Such green tracks will he be able to bat sensibly?
• Need to see more of him before I can pass the verdict.....I have jumped on the bandwagon for some other players because they either had great FC records or a great season where they hit a purple patch or some were prodigies at the u-19 level...Pandya unfortunately doesn't have such resume yet.
• Need to see if he can improve with every game.

Till then I am still a bit skeptical....I do understand that we have been desperate for the next Kapil Dev since 1994 and hence the hype,I get it but let us wait.....Pandya needs to perform every match for the time being atleast for a short while before his bad performances can be overlooked once in a while.

 

So far in WT2O and even in IPL he was very unimpressive but gets the benefit of doubt because of the nature of the format.

 

In ODI's he had a decent 1st game....so excited but I wouldn't pull the trigger yet on him.

Edited October 18, 2016 by maniac

[CG]

Good start to his career and hope he fills the much awaited allrounder spot but

 

• Still not sure what his primary skillset is.....Is he a bowler who can bat now? If that is the case can we honestly say that he can make it into the side as a bowler alone ahead of Bhuvi
• Got 3 wickets....2 of which were bad shots but still a wicket is a wicket fluke,bad umpiring decision,bad shot whatever the reason may be...he had the numbers so credit to him.
• On such green tracks will he be able to run through sides?
• On Such green tracks will he be able to bat sensibly?
• Need to see more of him before I can pass the verdict.....I have jumped on the bandwagon for some other players because they either had great FC records or a great season where they hit a purple patch or some were prodigies at the u-19 level...Pandya unfortunately doesn't have such resume yet.
• Need to see if he can improve with every game.

Till then I am still a bit skeptical....I do understand that we have been desperate for the next Kapil Dev since 1994 and hence the hype,I get it but let us wait.....Pandya needs to perform every match for the time being atleast for a short while before his bad performances can be overlooked once in a while.

 

So far in WT2O and even in IPL he was very unimpressive but gets the benefit of doubt because of the nature of the format.

 

In ODI's he had a decent 1st game....so excited but I wouldn't pull the trigger yet on him.

In odis most wickets are due to batsman mistake.Thing is he is a good hitter down the order which provides better balance to odi side.I think he has better potential as batsman.

[maniac]

1 hour ago, tweaker said:

So this is very phenomenol.If as an batting allrounder ,has improved his bowling from leg spinner to a 144 kmph bowler in a span of 2,3 years.

 

Again he has shown lot of improvement from the last T20 he played & his first odi.

 

Yes.....Agarkar,Ashwin where full-time batsmen who became successful bowlers.....Rohit was an out and out off spinner before he became a world class batsman....Kumble was a fast bowler who became a leg spinner.....Now hopeful Pandya will emulate these names who eventually found their true calling

1 minute ago, CG said:

In odis most wickets are due to batsman mistake.Thing is he is a good hitter down the order which provides better balance to odi side.I think he has better potential as batsman.

100% agree....as I said a wicket is a wicket no matter how you get it.....I am not writing him off at all....I heard a lot about his aggressive batting skills and have only seen glimpses of that in IPL that too 2 years ago...As a bowler if he has a knack of picking up wickets then that is good news because he is competing with Bhuvi for that spot or with the bat with likes of Raina etc as middle order hitter....2 very big names...so he needs to seal one spot as his own....If he turns out to be a consistent hitter,his bowling ability will put him ahead of Raina etc and vice versa ahead of Bhuvi for his batting ability.

[express bowling]

2 hours ago, maniac said:

Good start to his career and hope he fills the much awaited allrounder spot but

 

• Still not sure what his primary skillset is.....Is he a bowler who can bat now? If that is the case can we honestly say that he can make it into the side as a bowler alone ahead of Bhuvi
• Got 3 wickets....2 of which were bad shots but still a wicket is a wicket fluke,bad umpiring decision,bad shot whatever the reason may be...he had the numbers so credit to him.
• On such green tracks will he be able to run through sides?
• On Such green tracks will he be able to bat sensibly?
• Need to see more of him before I can pass the verdict.....I have jumped on the bandwagon for some other players because they either had great FC records or a great season where they hit a purple patch or some were prodigies at the u-19 level...Pandya unfortunately doesn't have such resume yet.
• Need to see if he can improve with every game.

Till then I am still a bit skeptical....I do understand that we have been desperate for the next Kapil Dev since 1994 and hence the hype,I get it but let us wait.....Pandya needs to perform every match for the time being atleast for a short while before his bad performances can be overlooked once in a while.

 

So far in WT2O and even in IPL he was very unimpressive but gets the benefit of doubt because of the nature of the format.

 

In ODI's he had a decent 1st game....so excited but I wouldn't pull the trigger yet on him.

 

Just like 2 of his wickets came from ordinary deliveries,  there were 2 or 3 edges which did not find fielders and could have been bowler's wickets on another day. Cricket is a great leveler.  Also, Pandya consistently bowled in good areas at high pace with regular movement. that is very important in judging how a guy bowled.

 

BUT

 

What is the need today to be convinced or not convinced about how he will turn out in the future  ?   We  are not fortune tellers.

 

Players are introduced in international cricket based on their potential to do well in international cricket  and the need of the team.  Whether he will succeed in the long run or not in not based on talent only ....but depends on the temperament of the player, his ability to maintain fitness, focus, his hunger for success etc.

 

Does  Pandya deserve to be in our LOI side now   ?   Our team needs a big hitter +  a 5th bowler, preferably a pacer, who can bowl accurately at pace. Hardik ticks all the boxes.   Also, he was very consistent with the ball  on our last A tour to Australia.   So, the answer is YES.

 

What is the need to predict how he will turn out in the future ?   There is many a slip between the cup and the lip.

 

Pandya should be given  full support, guidance and encouragement by the team management and support by us fans so that he has a chance to realize his potential.

Edited October 18, 2016 by express bowling