Former Indian batsman and popular cricket commentator Aakash Chopra believe that the Indian Cricket Team needs more than one finisher in the team, saying Hardik Pandya can’t single-handedly finish games for India all the time, after the team’s 12-run defeat in the third T20I against Australia.
Pandya has time and again shown he can be the finisher for Team India in white-ball cricket and even the all-rounder has been evolving in the role, but still, Men in Blue needs someone who can support the Baroda star in the middle-order to finish the game for the team.
Pandya has had a fabulous white-ball leg of India’s tour of Australia, finishing as the highest run-getter for India with 210 runs from 3 ODIs including a 90 off 76 balls in the first game, while 78 runs from three T20Is at a strike rate of 156 and even won Player of the Series.
However, the right-hander couldn’t win the final T20I as India fell short by 12 runs in the 187-run chase against Australia and Chopra pointed out a need for a player who can support him in the death overs.
Citing the example of one of the world’s best finishers MS Dhoni, Chopra said the former captain even needed Yuvraj Singh during India’s golden period in white-ball cricket, that’s something the current Indian team should look for in order to dominant the limited-overs cricket.
Chopra told Cricbuzz on Wednesday: “If you look at India’s golden period in white-ball cricket, MS Dhoni had Yuvraj Singh with him. There is no better finisher in the world better than Dhoni, but he too needed someone. You cannot be a finisher all by yourself. And if you have just one – Hardik Pandya the finisher, then roles and responsibilities change a lot.”
However, the former batsman has insisted that the finisher should not be captain Virat Kohli, as he feels an anchor’s role suits the dashing right-hander best for India.
He further explained his point of view: “As far as Virat Kohli is concerned, if you have five-six batsmen in the team, each one has a different role. Playing anchor suits Kohli the best and I don’t think anyone else in world cricket plays that role better than him.”
Chopra concluded, “Take any format for example – ODIs and T20Is. It’s just that he needs to find players around him who can perform other roles. He has never scored at 170, never has never will. So don’t consider him Usain Bolt, who will run away with big shots.”
