A blistering century by Rishabh Pant followed by Hardik Pandya’s fifty guided Team India to a five-wicket victory over England in the series decider of the three-match series at Manchester on Sunday.
With the win, India clinched the ODI series 2-1 against England.
In the last ODI against England Pandya smashed 71 runs in 55 deliveries while picking four wickets conceding just 24 runs.
Speaking on SPORTS18’s show ‘SPORTS OVER THE TOP’, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar said, “Absolutely, Hardik Pandya is a completely changed guy. First of all, picking him as one of their first players, before that his fitness was a problem, and his batting was an issue for the earlier franchise. Not only did they pick him, and back him as one of their marquee players they gave him the captaincy.”
“Just the way the league turned out for him. Hardik Pandya is a changed man now, there’s a lot of maturity, responsibility and ambition as well. I see a sense of ambition coming into him. And once you have that, wanting to grow within Indian Cricket then there’s tremendous motivation. He’s also addressing himself in the third person now. Hardik Pandya has arrived,” he added.
Hardik Pandya: ‘Always grateful to those who stood by me, who encouraged me’
“Yes, just hoping that Hardik can keep his fitness together. No issues with Rishabh Pant. What we saw in that last one day, I was completely floored by the sheer talent and ability of these two guys, temperament as well, built a long partnership and how easily, in the end, India won. Thanks to Rishabh Pant for staying there till the end. So yes, high-quality batters, and they’re going to be batting mostly at number 4 and 5 whether it’s T20 Cricket or 50 overs cricket or Pant could be opening as well. In 2019, we had a lot of issues finding a proper middle order but now we have some quality supply,” he said.
Manjrekar said that Pant may seem irresponsible sometimes when he gets out to bat but he is incredible because of the kind of record he has in test cricket.
Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten 125* and his 133-run partnership with Hardik Pandya helped India chase down 260 in the final ODI of the three-match series at Manchester and win the series 2-1.
Talking about Pant’s evolving character and temperament as a batsman, Manjrekar said, “No, he’s always responsible. He may seem irresponsible sometimes when he gets out, when he gets out playing one of those kinds of shots, we’ve got to look at it as somebody getting out at slips because the game has changed and that is Rishabh Pant’s primary sort of skill. He’s got to sound different but when he extends himself, he tries these shots. The winning runs, for example, it’s a part of his basic attacking array of shots that he has.”
“So, responsibility wise I think this guy is just incredible because of the kind of record he has in test cricket. You can’t play that kind of shots if you are not responsible by nature, wanting to win the game and in this one day as well you could see him. He was responsibility personified; he was calmness personified. I got very excited watching Rishabh Pant because there’s something about this country, that we keep producing these kinds of batters every generation,” he added.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
