India vs Australia: “No one better than him for batting at 6 or 7” – Gautam Gambhir hails ‘specialist batsman’ Hardik Pandya


India vs Australia: “No one better than him for batting at 6 or 7” – Gautam Gambhir hails ‘specialist batsman’ Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya

After a long wait, the much anticipated India‘s tour of Australia finally kicked off last night. But the series opener turned out to be a disaster for the visitors. A rusty performance in Sydney saw India get hammered by 66 runs at the hands of a flamboyant Australian side. Batting first Australia put up a huge total of 374 on the back of centuries from skipper Aaron Finch and Steve Smith. And India was never able to recover from the first innings hammering..

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The opening ODI saw some bold decisions from both sides paying off. Australia promoted Glenn Maxwell ahead of specialist batsman Marnus Labuschagne. And the all-rounder held up his side’s faith in him. Maxwell played a scintillating cameo as he scored 45 off just 19 balls to propel his side to a humongous total.

It was a great decision

Glenn Maxwell

Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir feels that the decision to promote a hard-hitter in the death was a great move by the Aussies. He pointed out that Maxwell is always dangerous when the team is off to a great start. And he proved his prowess with the bat yet again. Gambhir feels that Maxwell’s knock was the cornerstone for the Kangaroos’ flourish in the final overs as they scored 110 runs in the final 10 overs.

That’s where the difference lied. To start off, Australia was eyeing a total around 32 or 330 and after Maxwell’s explosive knock they were able to put a target of 375 for India. Australia uses Maxwell as a floater, if he gets a good platform. And it was a great decision today. Because they had a such great start and that is why they could ask Maxwell to play his natural game,” Gambhir told speaking on ESPN Cricinfo.

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On the Indian side of things, the visitors took great risk as they included Hardik Pandya as a specialist batsman in the side. And the all-rounder didn’t shy off from the fight. Pandya walked in as his side was reeling at 101 for 4 and scored an explosive 90 off 76 deliveries. Gambhir hailed Pandya as the best option for the position as he lauded the team management for giving him a shot. Following his back injury, Pandya is yet to bowl a ball in competitive cricket.

It was a great decision. If you want Hardik Pandya to bat at 6 or 7, then he is the best choice to go with. If you replace him with Manish Pandey, then you will have to make way for him in the top four. And unfortunately their is no vacancy in the top four at the moment. So there is no one better than Hardik for batting at 6 or 7, so it was a great decision,” he signs off.

Also read : “I want to be at 100% of my bowling capacity for important games,” says Hardik Pandya