"What happened in the IPL was a slight temperamental issue" - Sanjay Manjrekar lauds Hardik Pandya's knock in IND vs BAN T20 World Cup warm-up
Sanjay Manjrekar has lauded Hardik Pandya for bouncing back after an indifferent campaign for the Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2024. The seam-bowling all-rounder smashed an unbeaten 40 off 23 deliveries in India's emphatic 60-run win in their 2024 T20 World Cup warm-up game against Bangladesh.
The Men in Blue set the Bangla Tigers a 183-run target after Rohit Sharma opted to bat first in New York on Saturday, June 1. The inaugural T20 World Cup champions then restricted Najmul Hossain Shanto and company to 122/9 to register an easy win in their only preparatory game before the global event.
Reviewing the game on Star Sports, Manjrekar pointed out that Hardik has always delivered the goods on the big stage for India and might have been temperamentally down while playing for the Mumbai Indians.
"I have been repeatedly saying, even before this match, if you see Hardik Pandya's performances in World Cups, he played the all-rounder's role very well in the 2019 World Cup, he had a main performance in the India-Pakistan match on the big stage, and see his performance with the bat in the semi-final India lost in Adelaide, he scored 60 runs at a strike rate of 190," he said.
"What happened in the IPL was a slight temperamental issue because he was feeling the pressure from outside. The environment might not have been good. I am not at all surprised that he will feel slightly relaxed and relieved after donning India's and not the Mumbai Indians' blues. He has the ability and I am repeatedly saying that he is a big-match player," the former India batter added.
MI finished last in IPL 2024 under Hardik's captaincy. The middle-order batter aggregated 216 runs at an underwhelming average of 18.00 in 13 innings in the recently concluded edition of the prestigious league.
"His record in World Cup cricket is exceptional" - Sanjay Bangar on Hardik Pandya
Sanjay Bangar concurred with Manjrekar that Hardik Pandya is a big-match player.
"You shouldn't see what he has done earlier when he is playing for India. You should definitely see what he has done for India. His record in World Cup cricket is exceptional. Whether he is playing Test cricket, 50-over or 20-over format for India, he has given fantastic performances in all three formats," he said.
The former India batting coach noted that the all-rounder provides the requisite balance to the side.
"There was a phase in the middle for sure where he got injured and because of that he couldn't play much, but whenever he comes, the Indian team's balance becomes much better," Bangar stated.
Hardik struck two fours and four sixes during his unbeaten 40-run knock in Saturday's game. He also picked up a wicket but conceded 30 runs in his three overs.