Former Indian Head coach Ravi Shastri praises Hardik Pandya performance

After his heroics in India’s first match of the Asia Cup, star all-rounder Hardik Pandya is now the talk of the town. The 28-year-old first picked three wickets of Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed and Khusdil Shah and later remained not out after scoring 33 from 17 deliveries. With his contribution, India registered a five-wicket victory over Pakistan in the final over of the match.

On Sunday, the former India head coach Ravi Shastri joined millions of others on Twitter to appreciate the ‘Kung Fu Pandya’ for his tremendous performance. He called Pandya the best T20 all rounder in the business and appreciated him for taking India over the line.

“Needed the best T20 all-rounder in the business to power India across the finish line,” tweeted the 1983-World Cup winner.

Pandya’s winning six off Mohammad Nawaz is still being circulated all over the social media. Pandya, on the other hand, spoke how he learnt a lot from MS Dhoni in order to finish crunch games. With the crucial stage coming soon, fans expect Pandya to deliver more such match-defining knocks.

Ravi Shastri puts his money on Hardik Pandya

This is not the first time when Ravi Shastri lauded Hardik Pandya for his performance. The 60-year-old recently praised Hardik and said his absence creates a huge difference and the balance of the squad goes away. Addressing a press conference hosted by Star Sports, the former cricketer explained how his absence creates a difference in the team.

“He (Pandya) is one of the most important cogs in the wheel as far as India is concerned. You take him out of the squad and the balance goes away. That’s how important he is. You don’t know whether to play an extra batsman or an extra bowler,” said the former India coach just before the Asia Cup.

He also highlighted how India missed his bowling in the last T20 World Cup. Ravi Shastri believes that there’s no one close to him when it comes to the all-round impact.

“We missed him really badly last year in the (T20) World Cup when he couldn’t bowl. It makes a massive difference. There is no one close to him when it comes to the quality that he possesses at that number. I think he is an extremely important player and has to be watched very closely. With the number of matches coming up, he is the last person you want to play in all those matches,” said Shastri.