Is Hardik Pandya a quick starter in T20Is?

He is being touted as the future captain of the T20I team and if continues to approach his innings in the same way, the overall approach of the team might not change at all because it always benefits the team if the captain leads from the front.

Hardik Pandya in file image (Image: Twitter)
By Kshitij Ojha | Nov 20, 2022 | 5 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

India lost in the semis of the T20 World Cup in Australia. Hardik Pandya was the top performer with the bat as he powered his way through in the death overs and helped India post 168 runs on the board. But as it turned out it was not enough and England openers bull-dozed their way through the chase. But despite that innings by Hardik, there were question marks over how he went about his business in that game playing in the middle overs before accelerating at the death. In this piece, we deep dive into his method in T20 batting.

Hardik Pandya in T20Is in 2022 in overs 8-15

Hardik Pandya has not gotten the best numbers in T20Is in this period of the game. He starts slowly and likes to take the game deep. His strike-rate overall in this period is under 120. He generally comes into play at number 5 or 6 and his slow starts mean that it keeps the pressure on run-scoring on Suryakumar Yadav or the other batter who is batting alongside him. For someone who is batting at number 5, his slow starts stall the progress of the team in the middle overs. This is what his overall numbers look like in the 8-15 over the period.

YearInningsRunsBallsOutsAvgSRHS501004s6sDot %
202220210176730.0119.3400015733.5
Total20210176730.0119.3400015733.5

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His numbers against spinners drop even further. He struggles against leg spinners and left-arm-orthodox. He strikes at only 112.8 against these two bowling types in the middle overs. 14 innings in T20Is is enough to suggest his struggles against the spinners.

YearInningsRunsBallsOutsAvgSRHS501004s6sDot %
20221488780–112.826008235.9
Total1488780–112.826008235.9

The problem with Pandya is not limited to only against spinners, in the middle overs, he struggles against even the pacers in overs 8-15. He strikes at only 115.9 against the pacers and averages just 13.9.


Year
InningsRunsBallsOutsAvgSRHS501004s6sDot %
2022199784713.9115.516006333.3
Total199784713.9115.516006333.3
Hardik Pandya File Photo(Pic Credit- Twiiter/ICC)
Hardik Pandya File Photo(Pic Credit- Twiiter/ICC)

Pandya’s strike rate in overs 16-20 in T20Is

Although he struggles against the pacers in the middle overs, in overs 16-20 his strike rate drastically increases. He strikes at 181.4 against the pacers in overs 16-20 which indicates that he is very capable of taking on the pacers but he does not go after them from the word go.

YearInningsRunsBallsOutsAvgSRHS501004s6sDot %
202216301166933.4181.35420251725.9
Total16301166933.4181.35420251725.9

Hardik’s overall strike rate is 177.9 in overs 16-20 which is comparatively lower than his SR against the pacers. These numbers suggest a pattern. He is a slow starter and then takes on the bowling in the death overs. He, therefore, plays a similar game to the likes of Kohlis and Rohits in the Indian team.

YearInningsRunsBallsOutsAvgSRHS501004s6sDot %
2022163221811032.2177.95420251926.0

Has he improved as a batter?

His numbers have actually improved in the middle overs against all bowling types in the middle overs in the last year or so. Since he made his debut, at the end of December 2021, in 12 innings he struck at only 89.5 against leg-spinners and left-arm orthodox in overs 8-15. Against the pacers, he used to hit at just 93.2 in 19 innings in the same period. In the death overs (16-20) against the pacers, he hit an SR of179.7 so his game in that period has not changed much.

What about his numbers in the IPL?

Hardik Pandya led the new IPL franchise Gujarat Titans to their first title in their first season itself. He largely batted in the top 4 and took more responsibility as the captain of his team. In the 12 innings that he played in IPL 2022, he batted at either number 3 or 4. His strike rate against the pacers in this period was 149.4. He was dismissed 4 times but what this shows is that he can attack the pacers from the word go if wants to.

YearInningsRunsBallsOutsAvgSRHS501004s6sDot %
20221212785431.8149.4230018027.1

Although his strike rate against the pacers was 149.4, in IPL 2022 in the same period he struggled against the spinners. His strike rate against left-arm orthodox and leg spinners was a meagre 105.5.

YearInningsRunsBallsOutsAvgSRHS501004s6sDot %
2022127773325.7105.517005232.9

Pandya definitely has a weakness against leg spinners and left-arm orthodox spinners but his numbers against off-spinners are very high. He struck at 173.2 against them in IPL 2022 and was not dismissed even once. That is the reason in international cricket teams don’t use off-spinners against him as this year he has faced just 2 balls of off-spin in international cricket.

Hardik Pandya played a brilliant knock for GT vs SRH in IPL 2022 (Courtesy: iplt20.com)
Hardik Pandya played a brilliant knock for GT vs SRH in IPL 2022 (Courtesy: iplt20.com)

In IPL 2022 Pandya played just 2 innings in overs 16-20 and was not very successful. That was because he batted through the middle overs and the finishing job was left to Miller and Tewatia. Pandya’s role in the Indian team is different, yet his approach towards his batting even while playing for India remains the same.

This is how Pandya fared in IPL 2022 as a batter:

YearInningsRunsBallsOutsAvgSRHS501004s6sDot %
202215487371954.1131.38740491232.1

This is how Pandya has done in India colours up until November 20 2022 in T20Is:

YearInningsRunsBallsOutsAvgSRHS501004s6sDot %
2022245773981832.1145.07130442932.7

This is how Pandya fared in the T20 WC 2022 in Australia:

YearInningsRunsBallsOutsAvgSRHS501004s6sDot %
2022512897525.6132.063107734.0

The final verdict

The overall strike rate of 132.0 drops down to just 101.6 if we do not count his innings in the semi-final against England. He faced 37 balls against Pakistan and scored just 40 runs, although it can be said that he had no option in that scenario and play the situation but against Zimbabwe, he faced 18 balls and scored just 18 runs after KL Rahul had given India a strong start and Surya was going bonkers from the other end. Even against Bangladesh in the WC, he got out cheaply ( 5 off 6) when enough overs were left.

Hardik Pandya is captaining the Indian side in New Zealand at the moment and after the trashing India received from England in the semis, the team was criticised from all quarters, one of the harshest criticism came from former England captain Michael Vaughan. He wrote in a critical blog following the semifinal loss that India had accomplished nothing since winning the ODI World Cup at home in 2011 and has been the most under-performing white-ball side in history.

Responding to the same, Hardik Pandya said, “Obviously when you don’t do well, people will have their opinion, which we respect. I understand people have different points of view, but being at the international level, I don’t think we need to prove anything to anyone. It’s a sport, you keep trying to get better and eventually when the result is supposed to happen it will happen. There are things we need to work on, going forward we will rectify and work on it.”

Hardik Pandya has been signed by Ahmedabad for Rs 15 crore and is also the captain.
Hardik Pandya (Image credit: Twitter)

The first T20I against NZ was abandoned but in the 2nd T20I against NZ, India was asked to bat first yet again. Although the new opening pair of Kishan and Pant showed intent it did not bear results. It was the usual suspect SKY who helped India post 190. Hardik Pandya managed just 13 off 13 balls and yet again took his time after coming out to bat. He is being touted as the future captain of the T20I team and if continues to approach his innings in the same way, the overall approach of the team might not change at all because it always benefits the team if the captain leads from the front.





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