The chief selector of Indian cricket team, MSK Prasad has admitted that the Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya needs to be more consistent with his performances in the international cricket.
Since making debut in the international cricket in January 2016, Hardik Pandya gradually becomes a regular player for the Indian cricket team in every format. He has played 11 Tests, 41 ODIs and 35 T20Is but he is still struggling to keep consistent performances.
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After pointing out that issue, Prasad also confidently said that Pandya will be a better player with the growing experiences.
Talking about Pandya’s recent performances, Prasad said according to India Today, “Hardik Pandya is an all-rounder in the making. He scored a century against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka. He batted well against South Africa in the Cape Town Test and performed well both with bat and ball against England in Nottingham. This clearly shows that he can perform in all conditions.”
“Only thing we expect from him is more consistency with both bat & ball. I am sure this tour would have been a big learning experience in his career. He will be a better player with the experience he has gained from this tour.”
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Despite Pandya has struggled to be consistent, the team management has put enough faith in him to give regular chances.
When Prasad was asked about the number of chances for any player to establish in the team, he replied, “I feel it is not appropriate to say that a player will be given only particular number of opportunities to establish. A good player understands the dynamics & demands of International cricket and quickly adapt to it. I always keep saying that time and again that as a selector we only select the players and it’s up to the players to make use of the opportunities.”
The former Indian wicketkeeper has also expressed his happiness on the young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant’s maiden Test century on the recent English tour, which was the first Test century by an Indian wicketkeeper-batsman in the SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia). However, Prasad is concerned about Pant’s wicket-keeping skills.
Prasad said, “I am really happy the way Rishabh batted in the last Test in England. In fact we never had any doubts about his batting skills. My only concern is about his wicket-keeping.”
