Since his back injury, Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been in and out of form. Now part of the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka, the batsman is having a below-par tour with the bat as he scored 19 and 0 in the two ODIs and got just 10 runs in the first T20I.
The 27-year-old, with the ball too, has struggled to find any rhythm. He has picked just two wickets in the preceding ODI series.
With the ICC T20 World Cup all set to take place in October, India will be hoping for Pandya to get back in form as he can be dangerous with the bat.
However, the lack of runs from the batter has got many talking and former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar feels that the Indian squad has two players if they can be groomed well, could be backup options.
“Of course, there is a backup. You recently saw Deepak Chahar; he proved that he can be an all-rounder. You did not give Bhuvneshwar Kumar that opportunity. Two-three years ago, when India played in Sri Lanka, then he along with Dhoni, had won India a match. The scenario in that match was similar to the second ODI. They had lost 7-8 wickets and, Bhuvneshwar and Dhoni had won that match for India,” Gavaskar said on Sports Tak.
Recently, Deepak Chahar, with the bat played a match-winning unbeaten 69 in the second ODI. He was helped by vice-captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who had kept his cool and scored 19 runs in the same game.
According to the 71-year-old, the two players should be given more opportunities as all-rounders in near future.
