Yahoo Sport 
Dinesh Karthik Thinks Hardik Pandya Will Be Special Player For India In ICC T20 World Cup 2021
Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik believes that all-rounder Hardik Pandya will play a major role for India in the ICC T20 World Cup.
Pandya didn’t have a great series against Sri Lanka where he could just manage 29 runs in the three innings he batted before missing the last two T20Is as he was one of the eight close contacts of his brother Krunal Pandya, who tested COVID-19 positive in the middle of the tour.
Hardik Pandya can take away the game in the whiff of a breath: Dinesh Karthik
Pandya has played an important role as a finisher in the Indian batting line-up and holds a strike rate of 145.34 and has picked 42 wickets in T20Is. He was part of India’s 2016 World Cup campaign, where he bowled a thriller final over against Bangladesh as India won by 1 run in what was a pulsating game.
Karthik feels Pandya could be the standalone player for India given his all-round performance and the ability to take the game away from the opposition.
“The question is, on that big day — like it happened a few years ago in Mumbai — somebody turns up and does well, what are you going to do someone special. And from India, through the tournament, if they have to find ways of pushing themselves, there are a lot of key players, but I would like to single out this man, who is in the middle of it all — Hardik Pandya,” Karthik said on Star Sports show Game Plan.
“He bats at No.6, he has a job to do every time he comes in, he has the potential to take the game away in the whiff of a breath — that’s how good he is. So, again with the ball, he is very good with it, he is very handy, he can bowl at 85-87 mph, but also mix in the slower ones,” said Karthik.
Hardik Pandya can deliver on slower wickets: Dinesh Karthik
Pandya has also taken some spectacular catches on the field which makes him tick all the boxes to get selected in the World Cup squad that will play in the United Arab Emirates in October.
Karthik said that Pandya can play very well on sluggish tracks and plays very calculatingly.
“Over the period of time, he has shown the mind — what’s between your ears they say — to be very strong, very calculated and he is somebody who can come and deliver on slow wickets very well, and that’s one of his strengths, so I am looking forward to him as a gun fielder as well — we’ve got a few good fielders there,” Karthik said.
Also Read: Watch: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma Signal Rishabh Pant To Complain Umpires About Bad Light
The post Dinesh Karthik Thinks Hardik Pandya Will Be Special Player For India In ICC T20 World Cup 2021 appeared first on CricketAddictor.
