What's Ailing Hardik Pandya The Batsman?

In the three-match one-day series against Sri Lanka, Pandya managed only 19 runs. This came at the back of a forgettable run with the bat...

- Renin Wilben

Team India all-rounder Hardik Pandya is having a tough time of late. Following his inability to bowl frequently due to back surgery, Pandya seemed to have rediscovered himself as a proper batsman in the limited-overs format during the tour of Australia. However, since then, he's batting fortunes have nosedived to such an extent that his place in the playing XI has now come under the scanner. When Pandya made his international debut, he was seen as a medium-pacer who could also bat. However, over time he improved his hitting to such an extent that, he transformed into a batting all-rounder. Currently, though, he is struggling in both departments.

If we look at his performance during the tour of Australia where he featured in the ODIs and T20Is, Pandya hammered 210 in three one-dayers at an average of 105 with two half-centuries. He impressed in the T20Is as well, smashing 78 runs at an average of 39. However, he looked out of sorts in the home series against England, failing to make an impression with the bat in the ODIs and the T20Is. In the three-match one-day series against Sri Lanka, Pandya managed only 19 runs. This came at the back of a forgettable run with the bat in the first half of IPL 2021.