XtraTime Web Desk: Veteran Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is really very unhappy with the performances of the Men in Blue in the first two Test against England and this time star all-rounder Hardik Pandya was in his target. As per Bhajji the tag of an ‘all-rounder’ should be removed from Pandya and it’s not right to think that one day he will become an all-rounder Kapil Dev.
“He (Hardik Pandya) hasn’t got many runs as a batsman and the captain doesn’t seem to have confidence in his bowling. If he doesn’t bowl in these conditions then things will only get difficult for him and the Indian team in the future,” Harbhajan told AajTak.
Harbhajan compared Pandya’s performances with English all-rounder Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes to show what is the current difference between the two and Pandya.
“We have to remove the all-rounder tag from him as an all-rounder contributes in both the departments as Stokes, Curran did in the first Test and now Woakes has done at the Lord’s. The same is expected of Hardik Pandya, he cannot become Kapil Dev overnight!,” the spinner added.
India were defeated in the first Test at Edgbaston by 31 runs and at Lord’s, they were completely outplayed as the hosts won the encounter by an innings and 159 runs.
“As a bowling unit, we tried but all of a sudden the ball stopped swinging and they – (Chris) Woakes and (Jonny) Bairstow – took the game away,” Pandya had said after the match.
“It happens – I’ve seen in Tests. You get four or five wickets quickly and then you get one partnership. Even with our batting line-up, it has happened many times. It’s just a part of the game,” Pandya said.