'Better than many other great batters' - Harbhajan Singh wants Hardik Pandya to bat up the order for Team India

Hardik Pandya has been on a roll in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 as Gujarat Titans sit pretty atop the team standings. The dashing batter, who played the finisher’s role during his stay at Mumbai Indians, has been batting up the order this season. He has embraced the challenge with brilliance and scored 308 runs in eight matches at an impressive strike rate.

Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is mighty impressed with the GT skipper as he lavished massive praises on him. The 41-year-old even reckons Hardik should bat up the order for Indian cricket team in upcoming assignments. Though Harbhajan avoided making any comparisons, he believes Hardik has done better than many ‘great batters’ at the moment. He also said that the selectors and team management can identify any other player for the finisher’s role and free Hardik from that responsibility.

Hardik Pandya has looked like a top-class batter: Harbhajan Singh

“Hardik has a great technique. He can be a proper batsman. But we hadn’t seen him in this role until now. He usually used to come down the order and smash big hits. Now, he had the opportunity to come to bat properly with 17-18 overs remaining in the innings, and he has looked like a top-class batter,” Harbhajan told Sportskeeda.

“I don’t want to compare him to anybody but, with the game that he has shown so far, he has been better than many other great batters at the moment,” he added. Harbhajan is also of the popular belief that the best batter of the team must face maximum deliveries. Hence, he stated that Hardik can be more dangerous towards the end if he’s set.

“I would want Hardik to have such chances in the Indian team as well. You can have someone else as a finisher. If you have such solid players like him at number three-four, you don’t need to send him down the order. When you are set, in the latter overs you can do more damage. He has been phenomenal with the bat, outstanding with the ball too. He is making a strong case for himself (to make a comeback to the Indian team),” opined Harbhajan.