West Indian fast bowling great Michael Holding feels Hardik Pandya is not yet the all-rounder India wants him to be, because he is ineffective as a bowler and also not scoring enough runs with the bat.
“The (Indian) attack has not been the right balance. Apparently they are playing Hardik Pandya as an all-rounder to help out with the bowling. When he bowls he isn’t as effective as he should be,” Holding was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo .
“Happy with that. But he is not getting the amount of runs that can then allow him to get a wicket or two in the Test. That doesn’t work.”
Pandya made his Test debut last July in Sri Lanka, scoring a fifty in Galle and followed it with his maiden Test century in Pallekelle in his third Test.
He has played nine Tests so far and, barring the home series against Sri Lanka for which he was rested late last year, he has been the only constant in the Indian Test XI along with captain Virat Kohli.
Before the Lord’s Test, Pandya had gone wicketless for four Tests, starting from the second match in South Africa in January, and Holding said he did not have many skills.
“I don’t think he does a lot with the ball. That is number one,” he said. “He is not consistent. He does not have the control that puts batsmen under pressure constantly. He will bowl a couple of good deliveries, yes, but you need to have the control to put batsmen under pressure consistently. And he doesn’t have that.
“If he was a good batsman, if he was getting runs — 60s, 70s, not even regular hundreds — at the number at which he bats and then he bowls and gets two or three wickets, happy, hallelujah,” said Holding.
“If you are going to be a frontline bowler anywhere in the world, if you are going to be someone that your captain can rely on, then can throw you the ball and expect you to get wickets and expect you to have control. He is not really the man in my opinion,” Holding said.
