"His firing continuously is necessary" - When an Indian cricketer was termed more valuable than Kohli, Rohit and Bumrah in white-ball cricket

Team India have been heavily dependent on Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah over the last few years. While Bumrah has been exceptional across formats, Kohli and Rohit have done better in white-ball cricket of late in comparison to Test cricket. The two senior batters combined with Bumrah were instrumental in India's 2024 T20 World Cup triumph, after which Rohit and Kohli retired from T20Is.

Interestingly, former India opener Aakash Chopra made an assessment a few years back and opined that all-rounder Hardik Pandya was more valuable to the India's white-ball cricket than even Kohli, Rohit and Bumrah. In a video shared on his Facebook page in December 2020, he shared his thoughts on the significance of Pandya to India's white-ball squads and commented:

"Hardik Pandya is fast becoming India's most valuable player in white-ball cricket. His firing continuously is necessary. He is going to be more valuable than Kohli, Rohit, Bumrah. If India has to win the World T20, Hardik Pandya could be the one to play the biggest role in that."

Chopra went on to point out that the Men in Blue failed to win World Cups despite Rohit scoring five hundreds in one edition and Kohli being among the runs in almost all ICC white-ball events. He elaborated:

"To start with Hardik Pandya the batsman, India has not won the last few limited-overs World Cups. Our top-order has always been good. Rohit Sharma scored five centuries in one World Cup and Virat Kohli always scores runs."

Incidentally, Pandya, along with Rohit, Kohli and Bumrah, played key roles in ending Team India's ICC drought as they lifted the T20 World Cup held in the West Indies and the USA in 2024. Pandya scored 144 runs in six innings at an average of 48 and a strike rate of 151.57. With the ball, he picked up 11 wickets at an average of 17.36 and an economy rate of 7.64.

Bumrah was the Player of the Tournament for claiming 15 wickets at an average of 8.26 and an economy rate of 4.17. Rohit was the second-leading run-getter in the 2024 T20 World Cup, with 257 runs in eight innings at an average of 36.71 and a strike rate of 156.70. Kohli was Player of the Match in the final for scoring 76 off 59 balls against South Africa.

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Hardik Pandya's stats for India in white-ball cricket

Pandya (31) has represented the Men in Blue in 86 ODIs so far. He has scored 1,769 runs at an average of 34.01 and a strike rate of 110.35, with 11 fifties. With his medium pace, he has claimed 84 wickets, averaging 35.23.

The all-rounder has featured in 110 T20Is and has scored 1,769 runs at an average of 27.91 and a strike rate of 141.68. With the ball, he has picked up 91 wickets at an average of 26.50 and an economy rate of 8.20.