Hardik Pandya is not just a slogger, he might be a regular at no. 4: Virat Kohli

Indian skipper Virat Kohli believes the all-rounder Hardik Pandya could become a regular at number 4 for India in future. Pandya was promoted at the top as opposed to his number 7 slot in the last two ODIs and played decently well as he looked good to take his team home on Thursday as well. Kohli believes that he is not just a slogger and reads the game nicely to play according to the situation.

Australia stopped the juggernaut of the Men in Blue and defeated them in the high-scoring encounter in Bengaluru by 21 runs. The hopes of whitewashing the team from down under were dashed but the skipper remained positive despite the loss stating that the experiments don’t work every time. The series now moves to Nagpur as the final ODI will be played on Sunday before the teams clash in the shortest format of the game.

Testing bench strength is necessary

Virat Kohli was more than pleased with Hardik Pandya evolving as a cricketer and felt that the cricketer is improving leaps and bounds. “For now, the plan to promote Hardik was to go after the spinner. (The idea was to) probably push the spinner out of the attack and get the quicks to come earlier into the game. He did that in the last game and he did it this time too, and batted nicely. Hardik has got a solid defence and he has got technique. He is not just a slogger. If he gains more confidence and if he can understand how to take the game till the end, he might be a regular at that spot. We are not predictable and are willing to do different things to put the opposition out,” he said in the post-match press conference.

He also said that the situation was ideal for Kedar Jadhav and Pandya to understand how to mould the innings and they did well. “When we had all gotten out and Hardik and Kedar were playing, this was the ideal situation for them to understand how the game can be taken till the end. They did a really good job with the partnership,” he continued. Kohli also cleared that he had no regrets about resting the main bowlers and praised Umesh and Shami for doing well on a flat wicket.

“You have to try the guys out in some stage. You have to try out the bench strength. You need to give those guys some game time. Umesh and Shami bowled well. Umesh picked up four wickets. The runs might have been a bit more than what he would have expected but we only lost by 20-odd runs. We did not bat that badly. The wicket was good. The bowlers bowled well and credit goes to them. In hindsight, if you lose, I am not that kind who thinks that I should not have done this. If it does not work, you make another plan and go for it and try execute it well. We have no doubts about why we rested both of them,” he signed off but not before praising David Warner for his scintillating century on the day.