"I don't think you can even compare them" - Rashid Latif on Hardik-Stokes comparison

Former Pakistan cricketer Rashid Latif believes that India's star allrounder Hardik Pandya still has a lot to prove before he could be compared to England's ace allrounder Ben Stokes. Pandya played a gem of an innings coming in at five and remained unbeaten on 71 off 30 balls.

His superlative knock included seven fours and five sixes. The right-hander has been in the form of his life since he made his comeback from injury and has been lighting up stages with some breathtaking performances.  

Hardik has a crucial role to play in the Indian T20I side at the moment as he provides balance to the playing XI. The 28-year-old captained India during their tour to Ireland earlier this year and helped them register a whitewash (2-0) in the T20I series. However, according to Rashid, Pandya is not good enough to be compared to Stokes.

You could say that some of Hardik's innings have been better than Ben Stokes: Rashid Latif 

Rashid Latif hailed Pandya as a ‘good player’ but mentioned that most of his brilliant performances have come in bilateral series. He feels that Hardik has not been able to consistently deliver performances like he did in the recent Asia Cup 2022 and hailed Stokes' performances that have won England Tests and World Cup (2019) as much higher.

He concluded that Hardik has played better at times, but overall Stokes is way ahead of him at the moment. 

"There's no doubt that he (Hardik) is a very good player but.. and I am using the term "but" because these kind of knocks happen in bilateral series often. The Asia Cup concluded recently and you have to count those performances too, with both bat and ball. I'm not talking about today's match (India vs Australia first T20I in Mohali), but just responding to your question (on Hardik-Stokes' comparison)," said Rashid during a discussion on his Youtube channel. 

"Ben Stokes is a proven player, winning World Cups, winning Test matches. So, on the field, I don't think you can even compare them. Because trophy is a trophy. Ben Stokes is ahead of Hardik in that." 

"Yes, you could say that some of Hardik's innings have been better than Ben Stokes, but having better innings and being better than Stokes are two completely different things," added former Pakistan skipper.