IND v AUS 2020: 'Maybe we should look in the Pandya family, there is one sitting at home' - Hardik Pandya's cheeky solution to India's all-rounder woes
Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya has cheekily suggested that his brother Krunal could be the answer to India's second all-rounder woes.
Virat Kohli's men fell to a 66-run loss to Australia in the first ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and with Pandya playing as a specialist batsman at No. 6, they were left with only 5 bowlers.
Kohli admitted in the post-match presentation that India are certainly short of options in the bowling department, and claimed that the management will think about where they can get a few overs from.
Speaking after the loss, Hardik Pandya addressed India's want for another all-rounder and claimed that he doesn't want to risk injury by rushing back before being fully healthy. The 27-year-old also named his elder brother as one of the possible candidates.
"Maybe we should look in the Pandya family only. There is one sitting at home," Hardik Pandya cheekily quipped.
'It's always going to be difficult when you go with 5 bowlers' - Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya admitted that having only five bowling options puts great pressure on the team, since it's almost impossible to recover if someone has an off-day. He continued by saying that India might have to look at their current squad in order to find a few overs.
"Yeah, it is always going to be difficult when you go with five bowlers. When someone is having an off day you don't have someone to fulfil [the quota]. More than injury, the sixth bowler's role is when someone from the five bowlers is having a bad day, they come and fill those overs so the other guy gets more cushion," Hardik Pandya stated.
"I think it is going to be... maybe we will have to make, maybe we will have to find someone who has already played India, and groom them and find a way to make them play," he added.
Mohammed Shami, and to some extent Ravindra Jadeja, were the only bowlers who didn't face punishment in the first ODI against Australia. Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini and Yuzvendra Chahal were all taken to the cleaners as Australia finished on a whopping 374/6.
India might look to make changes to their playing XI for the next game, but with no all-rounders on the bench, they might have to turn to part-timers like Kohli.