Lance Klusener is considered to be one of the best all-rounders in the 1990s and helped South Africa win a lot of matches with both the bat and the ball. Therefore, he has the best authority to choose the most complete all-rounder when asked to pick between England’s Ben Stokes and India’s Hardik Pandya.
Hardik Pandya made a stunning comeback after spending six months working on his fitness as he recovered from his back surgery which was a result of an injury he suffered in the 2018 Asia Cup. Pandya took a break after the T20 World Cup 2021 as he was unable to bowl his full quota for the past 2 years in any format.
He returned in IPL 2022 where he led Gujarat Titans to the title and showcased his fitness as well since then has bowled regularly whenever the Indian team required him to bowl and even touched the high 140 kph speeds as well.
On the other hand, Ben Stokes is already considered to be one of the best all-rounders in the world and recently took over as England Test captain resulting in the team winning 6 out of the 7 Tests he has led the team in completely transforming the fortunes of the team.
In an interview with Hindustan Times, Klusener was asked about the comparison between Stokes and Hardik. He picked the Englishman as the more complete all-rounder than his Indian counterpart.
"I think Stokes is a little bit more complete than a guy like Pandya. But he's learning all the time. In the last two-three years, the strides that Pandya has taken in international cricket are awesome. I don't think he's quite the finished product yet. The sooner he gets to that (stage) where he's completing all his overs all the time, I think we can definitely put him in the same bracket as all great all-rounders. He is up there but not quite at the top now," he said.
When asked about his assessment of Hardik, the South African pointed out bowling as an area where the Indian cricketer still has a long way to go.
"It's a good question. I think the questions around Pandya are not too much on his batting. It is about his bowling. Can he consistently bowl his full quota in all forms of the game? His batting is right up there with the best in the world," he said.
Hardik Pandya recently played in the three T20Is against Australia, while Ben Stokes is not the part of England squad for the 7 T20Is in Pakistan.
