Three reasons why Hardik Pandya and Vijay Shankar should play together in the World Cup

With the Indian sojourn ending against Australia, the next international assignment for India is the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales. At the end of the series, Australia will be feeling extremely hopeful of their chances in the forthcoming gala event. On the other hand, India will have to shrug off this setback quickly as they used the series for experimenting with different combinations.

The headache for the Men in Blue is still the middle order as it is a crucial piece of a jigsaw puzzle and they tried as many as 3 players in 5 outings. But nobody came up with a telling contribution and that’s why Captain Kohli will not be sure of his final XI for the first match of WC. Problems become aplenty when a team plays with 6 proper batsmen and 5 genuine bowlers. It is the exact problem which India faced in the recently concluded series as it lacked contribution from the lower order.

Sometimes in low scoring ties, the contribution from the bottom half can make a huge difference and that’s where all-rounders can come handy. Though Hardik Pandya missed out the series due to injury, Vijay Shankar filled the void to an extent. In his limited opportunities Shankar has proved his worth in the team with his all-round skills and it will be a surprise if he is not in the World Cup squad.

It will be difficult for the management to field both in the playing XI but if they play together it adds a different dimension to the team. The following three reasons will show why Vijay Shankar and Hardik Pandya should be playing together in the World Cup:

Contrasting batting styles:

Though Shankar and Pandya ply same trade for their teams they are like chalk and cheese, completely different from each other. In his small stint for the Indian team, Shankar has shown that he has got a classic textbook technique and it was on show when he made eye-catching 45 against New Zealand in the fifth ODI earlier this year at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington.

In the same match, Pandya made an identical score, but the style involved was hard hitting and slogging. Both the players have the ability to bat in the top 6 and as both of them have different batting styles so it can be used wisely according to the match situation. On a given day both Shankar and Pandya can become low tide and high tide respectively as per the team’s needs.