India tour of South Africa 2018: 4 areas of concern despite a successful ODI series victory

#3 The All-Rounder

There is a common saying in the cricket field today - 'Ben Stokes didn't become Ben Stokes overnight'

While pundits are still out to testify the legitimacy of that phrase, the honest truth is that Hardik Pandya is still not the answer to India's all-rounder requirement. However, he has improved in patches across tours but somehow it seems that Team India rates him too highly for his current skillset.

If Pandya is to fulfill the fifth bowler's role he needs to be able to bowl, whilst keeping the momentum and posing a threat to the best of batsmen in order to complement the tight opening spells of Bhuvneshwar Kumar & Jasprit Bumrah, and the chaos created by Kuldeep & Chahal.

Often he has been shielded with bowling overs to a new batsmen, being taken off the moment he gets attacked and brought back at the fall of the wicket or replaced with Kedar Jadhav. With the World Cup being held in England, India's need for a fast-bowling all-rounder is greater, and hence Jadhav might not be as effective.

Virat Kohli has called him a 'match winner' in every second conference even though he hasn't put in a match-winning performance to date - while I support the idea of supporting players and giving them confidence, Kohli is known for being vocal with his expectations of his players having offered suggestions to Cheteshwar Pujara for intent, Kedar Jadhav for running between the wickets and Sarfaraz Khan for fielding.

I do believe Hardik Pandya is the future, but (purely judging from interviews, on-field antics and progress in skills) it seems confidence and overconfidence stroll a fine line. Honest, open communication is the maxim that Kohli sets for locker room culture, so either they haven't really sat Pandya down to point out the disparity in his aggression against spin and pace bowling, a batting technique that still needs refining and bowling plans that aren't just 'bowl bouncers at 120-130 kph'