3 Indian players who made their T20I debut in the same year as Hardik Pandya but failed to make it big

Hardik Pandya made his T20I debut in 2016, the same year as Mandeep Singh, KL Rahul and Jaydev Unadkat did. (Image: Instagram)

Hardik Pandya is currently one of the biggest names in world cricket. The pace-bowling all-rounder led the Gujarat Titans to the IPL 2022 championship earlier this year and guided the Indian team to a 2-0 series win against Ireland last month.

Many fans feel Hardik Pandya is one of the best all-rounders in white-ball cricket right now. He has played nine matches for India this year, scoring 217 runs at an average of 43.40, with his batting strike rate being 149.66.

In the bowling department, Hardik has picked up six wickets this year at a strike rate of 16. Fans should note that Hardik has recorded his best T20I score (51) and bowled the best spell of his T20I career (4/33) in 2022.

While Hardik Pandya has been one of the biggest match-winners for India in T20 internationals, the following three players faded away after making their T20I debut for India in the same year (2016) as Hardik.

#1 Pawan Negi

Pawan Negi came into the limelight after his brilliant performances for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2015. He received a place in the Indian T20I squad in 2016 and made his debut against the UAE in Asia Cup.

Despite bowling a decent spell of 1/16, Negi never got another chance to play for India. He is no longer a regular fixture in IPL teams as well.

#2 Rishi Dhawan

Rishi Dhawan has played only one T20I match for India (Image: Getty)

Rishi Dhawan is a pace-bowling all-rounder like Hardik Pandya. He made his T20I debut against Zimbabwe and had a chance to emerge as a hero for the team. India needed seven runs off four balls, with Dhawan and MS Dhoni batting in the middle.

Dhoni gave the strike to Dhawan with the equation coming down to six off three. Dhawan played a dot ball and then took a single on the next ball. Dhoni could not smash the winning hit as India lost by two runs. Earlier in the game, Dhawan also bowled an expensive spell of 1/42.

Despite performing well in domestic cricket, Rishi Dhawan is yet to play another T20I for the nation.

#3 Mandeep Singh

2️⃣ International Debuts. 2️⃣ Different Stories 💙

@Mustafiz90 ➡️ A 5-fer on ODI debut 🔥
@mandeeps12 ➡️ An International T20I debut and a half century in the next game 🤩

#OnThisDay https://t.co/6g8Of1rfWz

Mandeep Singh made his T20I debut for India in the three-match series against Zimbabwe in 2016. He played in all three matches of that series and aggregated 87 runs, including a match-winning half-century in the second T20I.

Singh batted at an average of 43.50, while his strike rate was around 120. While Mandeep was picked in the Indian squads for other series after the 2016 Zimbabwe tour, he did not receive a place in the playing XI.

Subsequently, Mandeep was dropped from the squad and is yet to make a comeback. Looking at his IPL 2022 performances for the Delhi Capitals (18 runs in three matches), it seems unlikely that Mandeep will play for India in 2022.