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Dear India - Please don't make the same mistake with Hardik Pandya Pakistan made with Shahid Afridi!

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Bleedgreen4ever

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Hardik Pandya is wasting one slot in this Indian line up purely selected due to his so called star status and hard hitting ability(that too is only against spinners)

He is neither a proper batter or baller.I am pretty sure there should be better AR in India.

His stats are extremely mediocre to say the least

His average with the bat in FC,ODI and List A is in the early 30s and his bowling average is above 35.

India are literally playing with 4 specialist bowlers and 6 specialist batsmen.

Statistically he is similar to Afridi but Afridi was a much better bowler.

Pakistan chose Afridi for each and every match in the 2007 to 2016 period due to his star status and a few once in a bluemoon innings that wasted one slot for a specialist batsman/baller/AR which was one of the reasons we fared so poorly in that period..his replacement Shadab Khan is doing a much better job for Pakistan now.
 
At least Afridi hit that big 100 very early on.

Pandya has done nothing, so hopefully he will fade away after a series or two.

The IPL awaits!
 
I think they are right to develop him because of his potential and that means giving him opportunity but in no way or form should he a fixed permanent member of the playing eleven

He simply isnt good enough at the moment to warrant an automatic place

Keep giving him chances here and there more against the smaller teams but i dont think he should be in the playing x1 for a important series as this one
 
Varun said:
At least Afridi hit that big 100 very early on.

Pandya has done nothing, so hopefully he will fade away after a series or two.

The IPL awaits!
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I hope too. Btw! Are there any better Pace Bowling Allrounders in the Domestic scene at the moment? What are your thoughts on Ashish Reddy?
 
Unfair to Afridi who is an ATG LOI player to be compared with Pandaya who has so far not won even a match single handedly for his country let alone a world cup. I do like Pandaya, dont get me wrong but I think he is being too over-hyped and needs to be humbled to start focusing on where he is lacking which is bowling.
 
Afridi was way more talented that Pandya. At the moment Pandya is a bit of a joke.
 
Pandya is decent with the bat. He is not as useless.

With the bowl, he is there just to bowl 140 Kph and nothing more. Basically, a part-timer.

If he improves his bowling and take his average to 35, I will take him because he can be useful in overseas conditions.
 
Slim said:
Unfair to Afridi who is an ATG LOI player to be compared with Pandaya who has so far not won even a match single handedly for his country let alone a world cup. I do like Pandaya, dont get me wrong but I think he is being too over-hyped and needs to be humbled to start focusing on where he is lacking which is bowling.
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Afridi an ATG?

Are you joking?
 
I was never an Afridi fan. Afridi was very overrated in my view.

However -Afridi was a country mile better then Pandiya as a batsman and 10 country miles better then him as a bowler.
 
Tyler Durden said:
I hope too. Btw! Are there any better Pace Bowling Allrounders in the Domestic scene at the moment? What are your thoughts on Ashish Reddy?
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Never seen him play. IMO we shouldn't mess around with ARs unless there is a really elite one. Of which there has been none for two decades worth.
 
Tyler Durden said:
I hope too. Btw! Are there any better Pace Bowling Allrounders in the Domestic scene at the moment? What are your thoughts on Ashish Reddy?
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Reddy is a medium pacer from what I have seen of him in past ipl seasons.

Kamlesh nagarkotti is future bowling allrounder & sachin's son also has a potential to become good all rounder in future. Both are in development phase yet to play consistent first class cricket.
 
Afridi was a very good bowler.

And his explosive batting were one of the x factor in the Pakistan team.

Pandya isnt even close to him.
 
I don't really rate afridi high but pandya can make afridi look great here :ishant
 
Slim said:
Yes an unquestionable ATG in t20Is, probably the only one right now and arguably an ATG in ODIs.
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As reflected by his stellar average of 23 with the bat and 35 with the ball, and that's without removing the minnows.
 
Varun said:
As reflected by his stellar average of 23 with the bat and 35 with the ball, and that's without removing the minnows.
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Stats dont tell the whole story which is why i said arguably. He was an impact player and for a bowling all-rounder, he did fine.

Even the great Kapil had an average of 23 as a batsman and 27 as a bowler.
 
introvert said:
Reddy is a medium pacer from what I have seen of him in past ipl seasons.

Kamlesh nagarkotti is future bowling allrounder & sachin's son also has a potential to become good all rounder in future. Both are in development phase yet to play consistent first class cricket.
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Oh I see. I never saw Nagarkoti's batting, but I'm sure he will turn out to be a better Bowler than this Pandya guy.
 
Tyler Durden said:
Oh I see. I never saw Nagarkoti's batting, but I'm sure he will turn out to be a better Bowler than this Pandya guy.
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Have heard a lot about Mavi, Nagarkoti. Why doesnt BCCI give them a chance when ECB, CA, PCB are giving chances to their youngsters?
 
Was the 2nd best batsman in both the innings in an otherwise horror show by top batsmen. He's done nothing wrong to get so much blame.
 
If I am not mistaken Pandya bowling was not that bad months ago. Does he have fitness issues which is not allowing him to bowl faster?
 
gazza619 said:
If I am not mistaken Pandya bowling was not that bad months ago. Does he have fitness issues which is not allowing him to bowl faster?
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If you ask me, he's paying more attention to Fashion, Gadgets and Girls these days than Cricket. If you check out his Instagram you would understand how this guy's fortune has turned in a short span. He's focusing more on Endorsements, girls, parties, cars and lavish lifestyle and also taking that 'Pace bowling Allrounder' spot as advantage because there's no threat for his position at the moment. Sooner we get rid of him from the Test scene the better it is for the Indian Team.
 
Tyler Durden said:
If you ask me, he's paying more attention to Fashion, Gadgets and Girls these days than Cricket. If you check out his Instagram you would understand how this guy's fortune has turned in a short span. He's focusing more on Endorsements, girls, parties, cars and lavish lifestyle and also taking that 'Pace bowling Allrounder' spot as advantage because there's no threat for his position at the moment. Sooner we get rid of him from the Test scene the better it is for the Indian Team.
Click to expand...
Ah, that explains a lot. But I would not waste his talent. Let’s be honest, the guy has potential. Instead I would ask one of the seniors from the team (Kohli, Ashwin, Dhoni?) to take Pandya under their wing and put his 100% focus back into cricket. I feel like if Pandya was in Imran Khan’s team, he would have made him the next best thing.
 
gazza619 said:
Ah, that explains a lot. But I would not waste his talent. Let’s be honest, the guy has potential. Instead I would ask one of the seniors from the team (Kohli, Ashwin, Dhoni?) to take Pandya under their wing and put his 100% focus back into cricket. I feel like if Pandya was in Imran Khan’s team, he would have made him the next best thing.
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Do you think Kohli/Dhoni weren't doing this already in the past 2 years? He has to self-examine at some point and work hard towards his game. But I don't see him doing that anytime soon and in a way, it is better for the Indian team. Heck! If Kumble continued his tenure as Indian Coach, we would have had so many players on merit and someone like Pandya would have vanished way long back.
 
I was really impressed with the way Pandya batted yesterday, he looked rock solid..... His bowling will get better, but he is turning into a batsman atm....
 
Slim said:
Stats dont tell the whole story which is why i said arguably. He was an impact player and for a bowling all-rounder, he did fine.

Even the great Kapil had an average of 23 as a batsman and 27 as a bowler.
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This is the mindset that kept Pakistan cricket so backwards in the last decade.

Afridi was trash and he wasted one spot

He was mediocre to say the least and the same thing India is doing with Pandya
 
Afridi was potentially better than Pandya at Test level, he just wasted himself in this format, could have been one of our best Test all rounders ever.
 
Does Afridi have a 90+ score on a tough wicket in South Africa where almost all other batsmen failed ?

Pandya has the potential to be a proper batsman. And don't forget, he was the second highest scorer in the first Test.
 
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Slim said:
Stats dont tell the whole story which is why i said arguably. He was an impact player and for a bowling all-rounder, he did fine.

Even the great Kapil had an average of 23 as a batsman and 27 as a bowler.
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There's a difference between averaging 27 with the ball and averaging 35. Kapil too was a bowling all rounder. If Afridi is a LOI ATG then Jayasuriya would be the greatest LOI cricketer to have ever lived.
 
Hitman said:
There's a difference between averaging 27 with the ball and averaging 35. Kapil too was a bowling all rounder. If Afridi is a LOI ATG then Jayasuriya would be the greatest LOI cricketer to have ever lived.
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The problem with both Pandya and Afridi is that they are reelu tappa players

Neither specialist bat nor ballers
 
Bleedgreen4ever said:
The problem with both Pandya and Afridi is that they are reelu tappa players

Neither specialist bat nor ballers
Click to expand...

In other words, a part time bowler and a part time batsman rolled into one. In cricket, we call them bits and pieces player.
 
Bleedgreen4ever said:
Yes but Pandya is the better batsmen.

Both are extremely mediocre
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I agree. Pandya is a better batsmen. People here are underrating Pandya's batting. He can match Kapil Dev with his batting skills and is better batsmen than Afridi.

Mind you, Afridi was very talented with the bat himself but he underachieved massively with the bat. He should have averaged 30 but unfortunately thanks to his continuous score of 0(1), he ended up with an average of 23 only.

As a bowler though, Afridi is far better. His bowling performance in 2009 T20 semi final was his career best bowling I ever saw. He was bowling like an ATG spinner in that match.
 
Slim said:
Yes an unquestionable ATG in t20Is, probably the only one right now and arguably an ATG in ODIs.
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An ATG in T20 but nowhere close in ODIs.

Very talented but achieved zilch with the bat. He improved as a bowler later on.
 
If England had failed to get Kohli out, him and Pandya would have taken you to the finish line - both looked in control until the partnership was broken.
 
What I find amusing are the extreme positions on PP. Either a player is an extraordinary player/ATG player or just a pathetic excuse for a player. The zone of moderation seems to be untrodden.

I believe Pandya has potential and will be a very good player for India in the future. He has shown his potential in a few performances spread, albeit sporadically, across the last 18 months. He seems to be the only genuine player in the Indian batting line up that can provide lower order impetus and does seem to have some smarts to negotiate a collapse, if need be. As far as his bowling is concerned, his skills seem to be par at best (or even below). But if he can work on his wrist position and get it to swing with that action and loosen his confidence that he strongly has in his bouncer and bring in more variety in bowling rather than just hitting the pitch at some pace, he could improve by leaps and bounds. With the loads of coaches at BCCI's disposal, they should be trying that.

With the examples of Holder, Stokes, Woakes and Andre Russel in recent times, it is evident that all-rounders need some to fully blossom. Although always rated Faheem higher, Pandya is not as bad as he has been made out to be due to a string of low performances. He will be an important player for India in the future, but let's not be naïve and have unrealistic expectations.
 
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This thread is an insult to Afridi. He at least won matches for his country.
 
Afridi was a genuine bowler, and always managed to put up a good show with the bowl.

Batting was his main problem but still he has won you quite a few matches with the same batting. His approach was terrible as he always wanted to go for sixes in order to achieve personal milestones.

But as far as Afridi's leg spin is concerned, he was a partnership breaker and hungry for wickets.

He's played important knocks in the T20 WC 2009 semi final and final. The only problem with him was that he never realized that he was a genuine bowler and should've come at no.8 since the no.7 spot is a crucial one and should be utilized by batsmen like Razzak/Fahim.
 
There is going to come a point when the Indian selectors will have to decide if Pandya is just a Limited-overs player.

I think eventually playing him in just 50 overs and T20 cricket will be best for India and the player himself.
 
Afridi took a 5-fer’ on Test debut against Australia.

Afridi broke the ODI record for the fastest century in his first international innings.

Afridi was responsible more than anything else for the infamous Chennai Test with a sublime 141 out of the team total of 286.

So, until Hardik does anything of note, please stop the comparisons with a YOUNG Afridi.
 
From what I've seen Pandya should never be in the test team when India has real batsmen waiting in the wings. His bowling is just military medium with little skill. Im sure he will do well in the LO format though.

Afridi was a good test player in his early days, he could even hang in there at strike rate of 50.
 
Slim said:
Unfair to Afridi who is an ATG LOI player to be compared with Pandaya who has so far not won even a match single handedly for his country let alone a world cup. I do like Pandaya, dont get me wrong but I think he is being too over-hyped and needs to be humbled to start focusing on where he is lacking which is bowling.
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Bleedgreen4ever said:
Afridi an ATG?

Are you joking?
Click to expand...

Unquestionably an atg in t20s.

Not in ODIs though, he was a major failure for most of his career in the 50 over format barring once in a blue moon performances. Although his once in a blue moon performances were magical, like his performance against Sri lanka in 2011, fourth ODI in Sharjah.
 
Afridi is more appreciated nowadays because of one weird thing; during his time from 1996 and onwards, his playing style was more suited for today's modern ODI game and players like Afridi are gold dust. His style of batting did not suit the time period in which he was in because you needed batsmen who would stay at the wicket and make a big score. Now if you found yourself an allrounder who can give you some quick wickets and score runs quickly at 100+ SR, you've got yourself a gem in the modern LOI game.
 
Batting: good, consistent knocks from Pandya then it'll be Pandya > Afridi comfortably.

Bowling: Afridi >>>>>>>> Pandya
 
People have short memories :facepalm:

Afridi had impact from day 1- Literally.

He is way better bowler than his stats. His performance as test bowler in India was better than Shane Warne's.

Pandya is not a finished product, yet. And Indian fans' frustration is understandable. IMO India should persist with him if they plan to win games/series outside Asia. He can be a key member of this team.
 
I think Pandya will improve as a bowler. We needed a pace-bowling all-rounder from many years and Pandya is the closest we have found.

Yes, his bowling is poor at this moment but I believe he will improve that with time and till then India should persist with him. Outside Asia, he is very important and can be a good fifth bowling option with time.

He will never be anywhere near Kapil but he can be a Razzaq level cricketer for India.
 
Some context. India is coming off a largely successful home season of test games. They wanted to groom a fast bowling all-rounder who is playing against some tough countries away from home.
 
WhenSultansBowled said:
People have short memories :facepalm:

Afridi had impact from day 1- Literally.

He is way better bowler than his stats. His performance as test bowler in India was better than Shane Warne's.

Pandya is not a finished product, yet. And Indian fans' frustration is understandable. IMO India should persist with him if they plan to win games/series outside Asia. He can be a key member of this team.
Click to expand...

Afridi had impact one a day a yeAr. Let’s not try to refurbish a career of padded stats due to longevity
 
What an insult to Afridi!

I think people are judging Afridi's batting by looking at his numbers in his last 7-8 years of playing. Those numbers are mediocre i agree but in the initial few years he was a good batsman who contributed regularly with the bat and won Pakistan matches by scoring crucial runs at explosive rates. Pandya is nowhere near him if we compare them at the start of their careers.

With regards to bowling, there is no question that Afridi is a country mile ahead of Pandya.
 
Madplayer said:
What an insult to Afridi!

I think people are judging Afridi's batting by looking at his numbers in his last 7-8 years of playing. Those numbers are mediocre i agree but in the initial few years he was a good batsman who contributed regularly with the bat and won Pakistan matches by scoring crucial runs at explosive rates. Pandya is nowhere near him if we compare them at the start of their careers.

With regards to bowling, there is no question that Afridi is a country mile ahead of Pandya.
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Afridi has two 100s in under 50 balls and none of them were scored against a minnow team in an era when pitches were not so flat. He was the leading performer in the 2009 WT20, highest wicket taker in the 2011 ODI World Cup. Pandya has a long way to go before he can be compared with Afridi.
 
Pandya is a work in progress. He actually batted better in second innings and regarding his bowling, he got the pace and if Ishant Sharma can improve so can he. We definitely need a pace bowling all rounder and he is currently the only one we got.
 
mak36 said:
This thread is an insult to Afridi. He at least won matches for his country.
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Pandya was the MOS in Australia ODI series in which we blanked them by 4-1. Also has a test century and played a big part in winning that Test in SL.
 
Tyler Durden said:
If you ask me, he's paying more attention to Fashion, Gadgets and Girls these days than Cricket. If you check out his Instagram you would understand how this guy's fortune has turned in a short span. He's focusing more on Endorsements, girls, parties, cars and lavish lifestyle and also taking that 'Pace bowling Allrounder' spot as advantage because there's no threat for his position at the moment. Sooner we get rid of him from the Test scene the better it is for the Indian Team.
Click to expand...
oh boy, Desi uncles at work.Going by that logic, all NBA and NFL players should be playing so badly as they have groupies every other weekend. He had worked had for what he have , is young and every right to enjoy his life with any number of girls he want.
Don't mix personal lives of players with their careers.
 
The_Odd_One said:
Afridi has two 100s in under 50 balls and none of them were scored against a minnow team in an era when pitches were not so flat. He was the leading performer in the 2009 WT20, highest wicket taker in the 2011 ODI World Cup. Pandya has a long way to go before he can be compared with Afridi.
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He was also MoS in the 07 T20 WC IIRC
 
Pandya doesn't possess half the skill set that Afridi had. Afridi was a world-class bowler at his peak and an explosive striker of the ball during most of his career. Does anyone honestly believe Pandya will EVER be world class in any facet of the game?
 
Why are India tolerating Pandya so much?

We always hear of Hardik Pandya being the next big thing. But his bowling has been beyond embarrassing on a bowlers paradise this match. His batting has been nothing to write home about either for a while.

Seriously, don’t india have better fast bowling all round options?
 
Outside england in subcontiment even this england allrounders wud be like nothing players.
Although i agree pandya doesnt have much to contribute in test matches especially abroad.
 
akki said:
Outside england in subcontiment even this england allrounders wud be like nothing players.
Although i agree pandya doesnt have much to contribute in test matches especially abroad.
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Andrew Flintoff was brilliant in 2006
 
Afridi was talented but lacked IQ and situational awareness. Pandya should be given a fair run but lacks the obvious talent to be the solution India seeks.
 
There are no better all rounders in India.. the best all rounder we have had was Kapil Dev.. He is the one and only all rounder in our history.. Irfan Pathan, Ashwin, Ganguly, Yuvi, Tendulkar, Sehwag, Jadeja, Jadeja senior etc were technically not all rounders but people who could bat or bowl occasionally at some point of time..

Pandya is garbage but he is the only one we have.. Others are worse than him
 
mkyawar said:
Andrew Flintoff was brilliant in 2006
Click to expand...

Yapp flintoff , kallis , may be stokes as well....
These players are suitable to play test matches in all conditions and all pitcbes. These are genuine alrounders.
Apart from kapil dev idnt think india has ever produced genuine allrounder. All this pandey,jadeja or ashwin are seasonal allrounders..
 
This quote from TMS sums Pandya up

Another change from Kohli. Hardik Pandya replaces Ishant Sharma. I think that tells you that India are struggling for control.

Pandya has his collar turned up and a silver chain dangling out of his shirt. I don't mean to be nasty but you need to be a little better if you're going to strut around like Curtly Ambrose.
 
big_gamer007 said:
There are no better all rounders in India.. the best all rounder we have had was Kapil Dev.. He is the one and only all rounder in our history.. Irfan Pathan, Ashwin, Ganguly, Yuvi, Tendulkar, Sehwag, Jadeja, Jadeja senior etc were technically not all rounders but people who could bat or bowl occasionally at some point of time..

Pandya is garbage but he is the only one we have.. Others are worse than him
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What about his brother?
 
enigmatic_stani said:
This quote from TMS sums Pandya up

Another change from Kohli. Hardik Pandya replaces Ishant Sharma. I think that tells you that India are struggling for control.

Pandya has his collar turned up and a silver chain dangling out of his shirt. I don't mean to be nasty but you need to be a little better if you're going to strut around like Curtly Ambrose.
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Seriously? If that is true I think he should come back to earth after this game.
 
enigmatic_stani said:
This quote from TMS sums Pandya up

Another change from Kohli. Hardik Pandya replaces Ishant Sharma. I think that tells you that India are struggling for control.

Pandya has his collar turned up and a silver chain dangling out of his shirt. I don't mean to be nasty but you need to be a little better if you're going to strut around like Curtly Ambrose.
Click to expand...

He tries too hard to imitate Dwayne Bravo.
 
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