The many doors Hardik’s arrival opens for India

He is the middle-order anchor who can graft or attack depending on the situation.

- Somshuvra Laha

Hardik Pandya.

(PTI)

KOLKATA: Tuesday's first T201 win over South Africa illustrated once again why Hardik Pandya’s sustained fitness is intrinsically linked to India’s fortunes in white-ball cricket. He is the middle-order anchor who can graft or attack depending on the situation. He can be used as a new-ball bowler on pitches India want to go in with three spinners, few can debate his leadership, and even fewer can argue that he is the crisis man India can always go to when all options seem exhausted.

That wasn't quite the scenario when Pandya was thrown the ball on Tuesday but so pronounced is David Miller's hitting range that letting him find his feet is never an option in T20 cricket. Not to forget, Pandya perhaps knows a thing or two more about Miller who was his Gujarat Titans teammate for a considerable phase. Pandya came, bowled length on offstump and let Miller make a mess of a simple delivery. It’s wickets like these that underscore Pandya’s importance asa bowler in this side.