Hardik Pandya - From 'the next Kapil Dev' to scapegoat for India's loss

13 August 2017, the whole of India was in awe of a talented youngster, who looked like he was going to serve the national team for the years to come. If you were active on social media, you would have seen a lot of posts that compared him with the legendary Indian all-rounder Kapil Dev.

Exactly one year down the line...

13 August 2018, the whole of India is criticizing the same talented youngster, who still looks like he is going to serve the nation for the years to come. On social media, comparisons with Kapil Dev have started to vanish and he has suddenly become a liability in the Indian Test team.

What is so special about both these dates?

The first was the day Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya sent the Sri Lankan bowlers on a leather hunt at Kandy and scored his maiden Test century. His 96-ball 108 put India firmly in the driver's seat in the Test and Virat Kohli and co. went on to post an easy innings win.

Hardik Pandya celebrates after his century

It was not only his first Test ton but also the first-ever three-digit score he registered in first-class cricket. Incidentally, Kapil also scored his maiden first-class ton in Tests and it is very evident where the comparisons came from.

A year later, Hardik has been singled out for India's poor performance in the ongoing five-match Test series against England. India collapsed for the fourth time in the series and have already conceded a 2-0 lead.

How can things change so quickly in 365 days? Has Hardik forgotten how to play? Why has his performance regressed so much that he is to be blamed for India's loss? Let us take a look at the reality harsh reality.

Is Hardik Pandya really at fault?

Over the last one year, India hosted Sri Lanka in a three-match Test series at home and Hardik was rested for that series as he was given some time to get ready for the all-important tour of South Africa.

In his very first Test innings outside Asia, Hardik walked into bat when the scorecard read 76/5, trailing the hosts by 210 runs. The next couple of hours gave the Indian fans some hope as Hardk launched a counter-attack and in the company of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, he reduced the deficit to double digits before he was caught behind for a 95-ball 93, a knock that earned him a lot of praise.

Hardik Pandya celebrates his fifty in Cape Town

Yes, he did fail in the remainder of the series and the way he got out in one of the innings made Kapil himself lash out at him. “If Pandya keeps making silly mistakes like these then he doesn't deserve to be compared with me," Kapil told ABP News after Hardik was run out in a lazy manner after looking good at the wicket.

Yes, he failed in South Africa as he managed to score just 119 runs in six innings in the Test series, which is better than the run tallies of opening batsman Murali Vijay (102), India's Test mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara (100) and double the runs scored by opening batsmen Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul combined. In fact, Hardik was India's second-highest run-getter behind Virat Kohli, who scored 286 runs in six innings. Apart from Kohli, Hardik and Pujara, no other batsman managed to score a fifty in the tour. Yes, Hardik failed in South Africa while the other frontline batsmen in the side did their job to perfection.

In England, the story has been no different as the skipper has led from the front. The right-hander scored 200 runs by himself in the first Test and tried his best to score as many runs as possible in the second. In the first innings of the first Test, Hardik, playing his first FC innings in England, went after a wide delivery off James Anderson off the third ball he faced and edged it straight to Alastair Cook, who dropped a regulation chance at first slip.

Since then, Hardik was in control and he curbed his attacking instinct, treated the balls on merit, missed some and looked mature as a batsman. But, Man of the Match in the first Test, Sam Curran, bowled an inswinging yorker and trapped Hardik plumb in front of the stumps. It was a brilliant delivery and not many would have survived. But Hardik showed some resistance before getting out for 22, having walked out to bat when the score was 100/5.

England v India: Specsavers 1st Test - Day Four

In the second innings, it was even worse as he walked out after the fall of the sixth wicket with the scorecard reading 112/6 chasing 194. While he was batting with Kohli, the Indians fans had some hope as both looked good in the second innings. Yet again, Pandya was solid at the crease as he hardly played a rash shot. But when Kohli got out for 51 with over 50 needed, Hardik tried to keep India in the game and was the last batsman to get out, for 31, as India lost the game by 31 runs.

Hardik was the only Indian batsman apart from Kohli to score 30 in an innings and 50 in the match. But yes, Hardik failed in the Edgbaston Test while the other batsmen did their job to perfection.

The less said about the second Test at Lord's, the better. In the first innings, India were dismissed for just 107 and as James Anderson said in the press conference after day two, England could have dismissed any team that day.

Hardik, just like his teammates, looked clueless as he was caught in the slips for 11. In the second innings, his teammates were clueless again and lost their first four wickets for just 50 when Hardik walked out to bat. The 24-year-old looked solid yet again as he applied himself, showed some resistance and at the same time, scored a few runs.

England v India: Specsavers 2nd Test - Day Four

He got out for 26 in in the second innings and he was the second batsman after R Ashwin (33) to score more than 18 in the innings as India were bundled out for just 130, handing England an innings win. Oh, yeah! Hardik failed in the Lord's Test while the other batsmen did their job to perfection.

More than the runs he scored, the way in which he approached his batting in both the matches was impressive. After Kohli took his guard outside the crease in the first innings of the first Test, Hardik deployed the technique in the second innings of the Test where he was hardly troubled by the bowlers. He noted the success behind Kohli's game and incorporated into his game when the other batsmen failed to do so.

In the second innings of the second Test, when the Indian batsmen were concentrating on their defence without scoring any runs, Hardik and Ashwin showed them that they could score runs without much risk. The duo scored runs freely and at the same time, they left the balls outside the off-stump with disdain and were solid in defending the incoming deliveries, traits you need to have as a batsman if you want to be successful in England.

With three scores of above 20 in four innings this series, something that the other Indian batsmen failed to muster, Hardik is second on the list of highest run scorers for India with 90 runs, which is more than the tallies of few of the Indian top-order batsmen combined. Yes, Hardik failed as a batsman in England while the other batsmen did their job to perfection.

Coming to Hardik Pandya, the bowler, he was not used properly by the Indian skipper as he bowled just 10 overs in the first Test. The Indian frontline pacers, along with R Ashwin did the job for the team. When his services as a bowler were needed in the second Test, he bowled 17 overs and ended with figures of 3/66 and was easily India's best bowler. The more the captain gives him exposure as a bowler, the easier it becomes for Hardik to show what he is capable of with the ball.

India batsmen barring Virat Kohli in England

Though he is being criticised for India's loss, the bitter truth is that Hardik is easily one of the better players in the squad and he has been made a scapegoat by the fans and a few former players, something that is very unfair. Yes, he might not be up there with the likes of Ben Stokes, Kapil Dev and other all-rounders in the world but he is not the worst player in the Indian side and definitely not the reason behind the team's dismal performance.

He never claimed to be the next Kapil Dev or India's answer to Ben Stokes but one thing he has been doing to perfection is showing that he is here to stay in Test cricket. From the next Kapil Dev to the scapegoat for India's loss, Hardik Pandya's Test career has come a long way in the last one year.

He has done nothing wrong to lose his place in the side and he will be itching to prove his critics wrong and help India get one back in the five-match series when both the teams take the field in the third Test at Trent Bridge.