Hardik Pandya vs 7 legendary all-rounders after their first ten Tests

Ever since his Test debut against Sri Lanka in 2017, Hardik Pandya has been quite decent for India in the format.

He started off his career with a fifty followed by a century in Sri Lanka before he toured South Africa with the Indian team where he scored a counter-attacking 93 before failing in the other matches. In the ongoing Test series against England, Pandya has shown a lot of promise with the bat as he is one of the two batsmen who scored at least 10 runs in all the innings he played so far.

The application he has been showing is good to watch and if he continues the way he is approaching his batting, he is surely set to cement his place in the team as a batsman, if not an all-rounder.

The Indian team management should show enough faith in him with the ball as they use him as the fourth pacer and bring him to bowl when the first-choice pacers needed a rest. When he was brought on early, he ended up taking a five-wicket haul against England.

Yes, Hardik has to be more consistent with the ball but at the same time, he should be backed by the skipper like he was given the second new ball in the second innings of the third Test against England.

In the ten matches he has played so far, he has scored 528 runs at an average of 35.2 with the help of one ton and four fifties. With the ball, he has picked up 16 wickets at an average of 27.69 and struck every 52 balls.

Hardik's career was off to a good start and let us compare where the legendary fast-bowling all-rounders stand after playing their first ten Test matches.

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Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev made his debut for India against Pakistan in 1978 and ended his career as India's best all-rounder.

In his first ten Tests, he had scalped 29 wickets at an average of 39 and struck every 66.3 balls. He also picked up just a solitary five-wicket haul with 7/84 being his best bowling efforts.

With the bat, Kapil Dev had scored 510 runs at an average of 42.5 with the help of a solitary ton in his first ten matches.

He eventually ended his career with 5248 runs in 131 matches at an average of 31.05 with the bat and 434 wickets at an average of 29.64 with the ball.

Ian Botham

Ian Botham

Ian Botham, who is by far England's greatest all-rounders, made his Test debut against Australia in Nottingham in 1977.

In his first ten matches, he picked up 53 wickets at an average of 17.34 and struck every 41.8 balls with 8/34 being his best bowling figures. He also picked up as many as six five-wicket hauls after his first ten Tests. With the bat, Botham had scored 479 runs at an average of 43.55 with the help of three hundreds.

He eventually ended his career with 5200 runs in 102 matches at an average of 33.54 with the bat and 383 wickets at an average of 28.40 with the ball.

Imran Khan

Prime Minister Imran Khan

Imran Khan made his Test debut for Pakistan against England in Birmingham in 1971 and by the time he retired, he was Pakistan's best all-rounder and the greatest captain to have led them. Recently, he became the Prime Minister of the country.

In his first ten games, Imran had accounted for 37 wickets at an average of 33.9 and struck every 73.2 balls with 6/63 being his best bowling figures. He had registered three five-wicket hauls and a ten-wicket haul in a match.

With the bat, Imran had scored 288 runs at an average of 20.57 without a single century in his first ten matches.

He eventually ended his career with 3807 runs in 88 matches at an average of 37.69 with the bat and 362 wickets at an average of 22.81 with the ball.

Sir Richard Hadlee

Sir Richard Hadlee

Legendary New Zealand pacer Richard Hadlee made his Test debut against Pakistan at Wellington in 1973 and by the time he retired, he had established himself as one of the finest all-rounders in the format.

In his first ten matches, Hadlee had dismissed 37 batsmen at an average of 29.43 and a strike-rate of 53.7 with the help of two five-wicket hauls. With the bat, Hadlee had scored 269 runs at an average of 18 without a single century.

He eventually ended his career with 3124 runs in 86 matches at an average of 27.16 with the bat and 431 wickets at an average of 22.29 with the ball.

Jacques Kallis

Jacques Kallis

Jacques Kallis made his debut for South Africa in 1995 and ended his career as easily the greatest fast-bowling all-rounder to have played the format with 13289 runs at an average 55.37 and took 292 wickets at an average 32.65 in 166 Tests.

After his first ten matches, Kallis was not even close to where Hardik Pandya is at the moment. With the ball, Kallis picked up just 11 wickets in his first ten Tests at an average of 30 and struck every 77 balls without registering a five-wicket haul to his name.

With the bat, Kallis had scored 340 runs at an average of 22.67 with the help of a solitary ton in his first ten matches.

Andrew Flintoff

Andrew Flintoff

Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff made his Test debut against South Africa at Trent Bridge, Nottingham in 1998 and played a key role in a number of England's wins in the format.

Flintoff had taken just seven wickets in his first ten Test matches at an average of 66.42 and a strike-rate of 147.2 balls, which is almost every 25 overs.

With the bat, Flintoff had scored 255 runs at an average of 15.93 without a single century in his first ten matches.

He eventually ended his career with 3845 runs in 79 matches at an average of 31.77 with the bat and 226 wickets at an average of 32.78 with the ball.

Ben Stokes

Ben Stokes

Ben Stokes made his debut for the Poms in 2013 against Australia in Adelaide and is currently a vital cog in their wheel so far.

In his first ten matches, Ben Stokes had taken 28 Test wickets at an average of 40.10 and struck every 64.4 balls.

With the bat, Stokes had scored 648 runs at an average of 36 with the help of two centuries in his first ten matches.

After 44 Tests, Stokes has scored 2678 runs at an average of 34.33 with the bat and 106 wickets at an average of 33.50 with the ball.

Result

Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya has just started his career in Tests and has impressed everyone in his first few matches. After the first ten Tests, his numbers are better than most of the legendary all-rounders who have played the sport. As an all-rounder, he is only behind Ian Botham and Ben Stokes after their first ten matches.

The team management should give him a longer rope, they will eventually do, and back him to do well with both and ball. The fans, on the other hand, should be patient with Hardik as he has the potential to end his career as one of the finest all-rounders India has ever produced.