Utilisation of Bowlers Something Tells Me 'Captain' Hardik Pandya Still a Work in Progress: Parthiv Patel

Parthiv Patel believes that Hardik Pandya’s captaincy is still a work in progress as he didn’t utilise his bowlers well during the T20I series against West Indies. Pandya, who led India in the T20Is, came under the scanner after India ended up in the losing five-match series 2-3 to the Windies. It was a below-par performance from India in the series decider on Sunday as they failed to put up a collective effort on the field and lost the match by 8 wickets.

The batting unit was a big disappointment in the series as they lacked consistency while the bowlers failed to put up a collective effort on the field. Hardik also faced scrutiny for not utilising his bowlers well.

Patel suggested that Pandya failed to use his bowlers well as captain as he gave an example when he chose Axar Patel to bowl against Pooran instead of Yuzvendra Chahal.

“Against Nicholas Pooran, he (Hardik Pandya) gave that over to Axar Patel and not bowling Yuzvendra Chahal. Bowling changes and the utilisation of the bowlers are something that tells me that Hardik, the captain for India, is still a work in progress,” Patel said on Cricbuzz.

The former wicketkeeper batter further expressed his concern over Pandya’s form with the bat.

“And there is obviously a little concern about his batting. He needs runs. He didn’t get runs in the IPL, he didn’t get runs in the last couple of series as well. India would want to get some runs for Hardik Pandya in the Asia Cup or the series against Australia before the World Cup,” he added.

Meanwhile, Patel lauded Kuldeep Yadav for his attacking mindset with the ball during the series as he managed to outfox Nicholas Pooran on a couple of occasions.

“He (Kuldeep Yadav) has been brilliant throughout this year. But in this series, he showed his attacking mindset, especially against Pooran. When he was going hammer and tongs against every bowler, he outfoxed him with an attacking mindset,” he added.

He further hailed Mukesh Kumar for his brilliant efforts with the ball in the death overs.

“He (Mukesh Kumar) was asked to bowl those difficult overs. It is not easy to bowl your first over in the 18th over and nail those yorkers time and again most consistently,” Patel said.