India have consistently produced some world-class batsmen and spinners over the last couple of decades.
When Sunil Gavaskar retired, there were apprehensions over whether the country would be able to replace him but then Sachin Tendulkar left his own legacy and Virat Kohli is now following the same footsteps. Ravichandran Ashwin, on the other hand, has shouldered the responsibility of spin department exceptionally well.
However, Team India is yet to found an able replacement for the legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev. Over the years, several players showed promise early on but gradually fizzled out and the latest player to raise the hopes of millions of fans is Hardik Pandya.
After proving himself to a certain extent in the limited-overs cricket, the Baroda star made his Test debut last month and made an impact straight away, scoring a quickfire 50 and taking a wicket in the Galle Test against Sri Lanka. In the second Test in Colombo, Pandya scored 20 and claimed a couple of wickets.
And Kapil Dev himself believes that Pandya has the ability to end India’s long wait for a quality all-rounder.
“He has the ability but he has to keep on performing,” said Kapil on the sidelines of a promotional event.
India skipper Virat Kohli had recently drawn a parallel between Pandya and England all-rounder Ben Stokes.
“At home, it has been different but when you play away, one guy gives you a lot of balance. I think Hardik can be that guy going ahead, especially playing so much cricket away from home. If he grows in confidence – you see someone like Ben Stokes, what he does for England. He brings in a great balance as an all-rounder. I see no reason why Hardik can’t become that for India,” Kohli had said after the Galle Test.
Kapil further expressed his delight over the contribution the fast bowlers are making in the Indian team.
“I am very happy because we have reached a stage where we have started to depend on our fast bowlers. There was a time when we didn’t have many fast bowlers. The people who are sitting out could have played for India any day,” Kapil said.