The Indian team has been performing superbly in this ongoing ICC ODI World Cup 2023 as they have won all the seven matches that they have played so far and they have become the first team to enter the semi-finals as well.
When the Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya got injured in the match against Bangladesh, many felt that his absence will pose problems for the Indian team but it doesn’t seem the case in reality. There was news that Hardik Pandya would be available for the match against Sri Lanka which was played yesterday but Pandya was not a part of that team which won the match by 302 runs.
The big question is that who will be dropped from the team if the team management has to make a place for Hardik Pandya.
The former Indian cricketer Madan Lal stated about the importance of all-rounders in the team, “An all-rounder makes a captain’s life easy…We have seen Pandya performing on the big stage and he hasn’t disappointed his captain. When I was playing in the 1983 World Cup, Kapil (Dev) paaji used me as a bowler and batsman too. I was also keen to perform and give results in both the departments. An all-rounder makes combinations easy. Rohit can go easily with five batsmen, five bowlers and one all-rounder, Pandya. So he then has one more batsman and one more bowler in Pandya.”
In regard to who should sit out to make way for Pandya, Madan Lal said, “If someone has to sit out, once Hardik is back, it should be Shreyas Iyer… He hasn’t been impressive in the tournament. The way he is getting out to short-pitched balls is terrible. You can’t play such shots. He has to sort out his own problems first… Suryakumar can come in at number five and Hardik at number six. KL (Rahul) can come in at number four then. This is the simple way to go forward.”
Well, Shreyas Iyer played a destructive knock of 82 runs against Sri Lanka for which he played only 56 deliveries and his innings included 3 fours and 6 sixes.
Let’s see what decision is taken by the team management.
