Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi claims that the current Pakistan cricket team needs a match-winning finisher like Hardik Pandya.
Shahid Afridi Praises Hardik Pandya
When Afridi was questioned by a news anchor – if he could see any match-winning player in Pakistan’s lower order, he admitted that the team lacks such a player.
“We require a player like Hardik Pandya. Someone who is reliable, comes down the order, helps in bowling and takes responsibility to finish the match down the order. Do you think we have any match finisher down the order?” asked a Samaa TV anchor to Afridi.
Afridi said that Pakistan fans were expecting players like Khushdil or Asif Ali to play that kind of role for Pakistan but they both have been inconsistent with their performances. He added that even Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz lack consistency.
“You are right. We don’t have such a finisher (like Hardik Pandya). We were expecting Asif Ali or Khushdil Shah to play that role. Even Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan are also not consistent,” said Afridi.
Post the IPL 2022, Hardik Pandya showed a massive improvement in his game with both bat and ball and becomes an unavoidable player in the Indian playing 11. In the recently concluded Australia tour of India 2022, Hardik scored a match-winning knock of 25 runs off 16 balls in the third and series decider T20I match.
In the first match against Australia, Hardik scored an unbeaten 71 runs off 30 runs at a strike rate of 236.67 which includes 7 boundaries and 5 sixes. Following his impressive performance, Hardik has been included in the squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2022.
M. O. O. D as #TeamIndia beat Australia in the third #INDvAUS T20I & seal the series win. 👍 👍
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/xVrzo737YV pic.twitter.com/uYBXd5GhXm
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 25, 2022
Hardik Pandya so far played 73 T20I matches and scored 989 runs with a highest of 71 at a strike rate of 148.5 which includes 2 half-centuries. Hardik also bagged 54 wickets at an economy of 8.34.
