India vs Australia 2017: Hardik wanted to set the stage on fire, says Krunal Pandya

What's the story?

After bagging the man of the series award in the just concluded series against Australia, the stocks of Hardik Pandya has skyrocketed and he has shot up into prominence in the Indian cricketing parleys.

However, elder brother Krunal Pandya took to Twitter to throw light on the psyche of his younger sibling.

Krunal wrote: “Just before the #INDvAUS series, @hardikpandya7 told me he will set the stage on fire & today I can proudly say, “you did it... and how!”??”

The details

Just before the #INDvAUS series, @hardikpandya7 told me he will set the stage on fire & today I can proudly say, “you did it... and how!”?? pic.twitter.com/ORoYAwAhWz

— Krunal Pandya (@krunalpandya24) October 1, 2017

This tweet was enough to gauge the intentions and the mood of Hardik who never doubted his own ability and belief and then went on to do justice to his talent, both with the ball and bat in the ODI series.

Hardik also won the praise of captain Virat Kohli who said that the all-rounder was a huge asset to have in the team and that he has posed selection headaches which is only a good thing to have in the current context.

The young 23-year old shone with both bat and ball in the series and drew comparisons with one of India's greatest all-rounder Kapil Dev.

In case you didn't know...

Hardik Pandya took 6 wickets in the series and also scored 222 runs with the bat. He showed a lot of panache with both bat and ball. He impressed more with the bat where his calm demeanour during pressure scenarios and solid temperament was hugely positive for India.

What’s next?

Although Hardik displayed tremendous promise in the series against Australia, he would know that the journey has just begun and that he has to continue evolve to stay afloat in International cricket.

He will now face New Zealand in an ODI series.

Watch: Hardik Pandya's maiden century against Sri Lanka

Author’s take

There is little doubt that Hardik Pandya has generated tremendous interest in and around Indian cricket and if he continues to stay rooted and keeps working hard at his game, there is no reason why he cannot be one of the best all-rounders to have ever played for India, and this across all the 3 formats.