The former Australian opener Matthew Hayden believes Marcus Stoinis is currently a better all-rounder than Hardik Pandya.
Australian Marcus Stoinis and Indian Hardik Pandya both are the pace-bowling all-rounders. Both cricketers are playing important roles for their national teams.
Since making his international debut in August 2015, Marcus Stoinis has played 24 ODIs and 17 T20Is. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya made his international debut in January 2016. The Indian all-rounder has played 11 Tests, 45 ODIs and 38 T20Is.
Matthew Hayden feels Marcus Stoinis is unlucky for not to play the Test cricket yet. However, he believes both Marcus Stoinis and Hardik Pandya are good players, but Marcus Stoinis is growing up as a world-class all-rounder.
The former Aussie opener said, “Marcus Stoinis is developing into a world-class all-rounder. He is unlucky not to be playing a little bit more Test cricket. He has quality in his play, although Hardik is also a fine player.
“Stoinis has adopted a wider approach to his game which is winning matches for his country. Hardik Pandya also has the same responsibility, but I think right now Stoinis is a better player.”
Shikhar Dhawan vs Pat Cummins
Australia is now touring India to play the limited-overs series. They will play the two-match T20I series and five-match ODI series from 24 February to 13 March.
Matthew Hayden feels the Aussie pacer, and co-vice-captain Pat Cummins will trouble the Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan in the upcoming limited-overs matches. The 25-year-old Australian right-arm pacer is currently an in-form Australian bowler. Recently, he has achieved the top-ranked position in the Test bowling.
In international cricket, the left-handed opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan and the right-arm pacer Pat Cummins haven’t faced each other yet. However, Matthew Hayden feels that the Indian opener will find difficulties to play against the Aussie pacer in the upcoming series.
Matthew Hayden said, “Pat Cummins will have the hold on Shikhar Dhawan. Dhawan loves pace and I think Pat holds the armoury with short ball, reverse swing and the variation with slow balls. I think Patty will be the baby-sitter.”
Glenn Maxwell vs Yuzvendra Chahal
On the other hand, the former Aussie opener also believes that Yuzvendra Chahal can dominate against Glenn Maxwell. The Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is in excellent form with the ball in hand. Meanwhile, Matthew Hayden added that the Australian cricketer Glenn Maxwell had struggled to play in Indian conditions.
Yuzvendra Chahal and Glenn Maxwell have met in six international games, out of which the leg-spinner dismissed the Aussie batsman for four times. When Australia last time tour in India in 2017/18, Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed Glenn Maxwell in all three ODIs of the series.
Matthew Hayden claimed about this clash, “Maxwell is a player who has struggled when playing in Indian conditions. His IPL performances have not been quite impactful. In the perspective of ODIs and Test matches Maxwell has achieved one excellent 100. But Chahal is developing into a world-class spinner and possesses plenty of variation.
“Maxwell often comes in through the middle stages where he will really need to pump up the pace and Chahal has got variation, so I will get Chahal to babysit.”
The upcoming home series against Australia will be India’s final assignment before the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup.