WHENEVER HARDIK PANDYA’S NOT PLAYING FOR ANY TEAM THERE IS ALWAYS A BALANCE ISSUE: MATTHEW HAYDEN

Khel Today Bureau 

New Delhi: After a thumping victory over Bangladesh last night in the ICC cricket World Cup, team India make it 4 wins out of 4, finding themselves at the top of table with New Zealand. Speaking exclusively to ESPNCricinfo, Australian cricket legend Matthew Hayden shared his views on the injury sustained by Hardik Pandya during the course of the match, and how it would affect the team’s balance.

Speaking exclusively to ESPNCricinfo, Matthew Hayden shared his views on India not finding a like for like replacement for Hardik Pandya in the team – “No one in the world really. He that good an all-rounder at the moment, and when you think back into the history of the way he’s been performing, whenever he’s not playing for any team there is always a balance issue. He provides that great stability.”

Hayden further added “The good thing for India is that they’ve got batting cover. Surya Kumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan can easily slot into that role, and then you get your specialist seamer Mohammad Shami back into the side, so that also would be a very good side. I don’t think you can have Jadeja batting up the order, I feel that’s a fragility in the Indian batting line up. The best combination is to get a specialist batter in there, and that way then you have an option to pick a specialist seam bowler as well in Shami.” 

Catch all the action from the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 –India vs New Zealand, October 22^nd,  2023, from 12:30 pm onwards, LIVE & Exclusive on the Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar.