Why Mike Hussey is right in saying that Hardik Pandya’s absence will hurt India

Former Aussie cricketer Mike Hussey, also known as Mr. Cricket, certainly knows his cricket. His recent comment regarding the impact of Hardik Pandya’s absence on India’s fortunes in the upcoming Australian series is a pertinent one.

Much has been made of the absence of Australia’s two premier batsmen – Steve Smith and David Warner – in the series, and how their absence has presented a golden opportunity to Team India to register its first test series victory down order apart from doing well in ODIs and T20Is as well.

There is no doubting the massive impact the Smith-Warner absence can potentially have on the final outcome of the series.

However, not much has been said or written about the absence of India’s only pace-bowling all-rounder in the series.

Hardik Pandya may not have had as much of an impact on India’s away series fortunes, as was expected of him.

But he has shown the glimpses of that potential through some sporadic brilliant performances during the South Africa and England tours.

Pandya’s counter-attacking 93 against South Africa in the Cape Town test early this year, single-handedly kept India in the hunt.

But for the collective failure of Indian batsmen, this innings did have the potential to be the difference between the two teams. As it turned out, India lost that test by 73 runs.

But as an all-rounder, his only true impactful contribution in an away series was at the Trent Bridge test this year when he shone with both bat and ball.

His five-wicket haul and a run-a-ball fifty ensured that India staged a comeback in the 2018 series after being 2-0 down.

It’s true that such all-round impact from Pandya has been few and far between. And there is some truth to Michael Holding’s statement that Pandya has not yet developed into a world-class test all-rounder.

However, as things stand now, he is the best fast-bowling all-rounder that India has at the moment, in all three formats of the game.

India has a surplus of spin-bowling all-rounders, but not a single one who has shown the kind of promise and potential that Pandya has shown.

Mr. Cricket is absolutely right. Hardik Pandya’s absence will be acutely felt by India during their tour down under.