Hardik Pandya the all-rounder: An obsession or a need?

It was unfair to compare Hardik Pandya with the legendary Kapil Dev, both on Pandya and Kapil Dev. But, why are we so obsessed with finding another Kapil Dev or should we say why are we so desperate to create all-rounders.

Whenever a bowler performs well with the bat, we are hell-bent on putting the tag of an all-rounder on that bowler. Ashwin and Jadeja are very good examples of this in the current Indian team. This results in unnecessary pressure on the bowler and takes his mind away from his primary job, which is bowling. There have been few casualties of this approach in the past, most famous being Irfan Pathan.

Talking about Hardik Pandya, even after giving him so many opportunities, India has neither found a bowler nor a batsman. In the England series, Pandya has scored 164 runs and taken 8 wickets in 8 innings. His performance doesn't merit him a place in the side either as a batsman or as a bowler. In hindsight, it would have been much better to play a specialist batsman instead of Pandya in the fir four Tests against England.

During recent times, the team of the 2000s was the most successful Indian team in overseas conditions. That team did not have an all-rounder, but it had specialists, specialists who knew how to go about their job in testing conditions. India used to play with six specialist batsmen, a keeper and four specialist bowlers.

The success of the team in 2000's raises a question- Is it imperative to have all-rounders to succeed in overseas conditions?

Having an all-rounder is a good thing, but, if we going to try and create an all-rounder, this approach will back-fire. It implies that you are going to play bits and pieces cricketer in place of a specialist, which doesn't work in Test cricket.

Kapil Dev

Bits and pieces cricketers are a necessity in limited overs cricket, but, players like Botham, Imran, Hadlee and Kapil, who were equally successful in Test cricket, come once in many generations.

Indian team needs to get over with this obsession of having a world-class all-rounder to boast-off. If a player who is equally good with both bat and ball, comes along, it is fine, otherwise, there is no need to try and create one.