'You can play him at no. 4, also at no. 6' - Sanjay Bangar lauds Hardik Pandya's versatility

Former Indian all-rounder Sanjay Bangar has praised Hardik Pandya for his versatility of playing different roles in different positions. The star all-rounder made a significant mark on his international return against South Africa in the first T20I match. He scored an unbeaten 31 runs off just 12 balls to guide the home side to 211 runs while batting first. However, the bowlers, including Hardik, failed to defend this big total as unbeaten fifties from Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller guided Proteas to a seven-wicket win with five balls remaining.

For the unversed, Hardik had last played for India in last year’s T20 World Cup. Making a great comeback from his back injury, the Gujarat Titans skipper excelled across all departments in the Indian Premier League 2022 season. He batted at number five in the opening T20I with Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant coming ahead of him. However, he embraced the challenge and played a brilliant knock on return.

Hardik Pandya has worked very well on his game’s foundation: Sanjay Bangar

Notably, Pandya played the anchor role with the Titans with a strike rate of around 130. But he holds the strike rate above 250 while playing at the number four position for Team India in T20Is. Former Indian head coach Sanjay Bangar also praised the player’s versatility of playing in different positions with different roles.

“He is an extremely versatile player who has worked very well on his game’s foundation. You can play him at No. 4 also and at No. 6 as well.” Bangar while interacting on Star Sports.

“Whenever I used to talk to Hardik, he used to always say that he wants to have a good foundation, he always paid a lot of attention to that. That is a transformation. When your game is sorted out, you can mold your game according to every situation,” he added.

Meanwhile, Hardik struggled with his bowling, conceding 18 runs in his only over in the match. The former Mumbai Indians player also drew unwanted criticism from the fans and pundits for denying a single to Dinesh Karthik in the final over.