Former Indian wicketkeeper batter Parthiv Patel lauded Hardik Pandya’s captaincy and bowling changes following India’s win against NZ

India defeated New Zealand comprehensively in the second T20I courtesy of a brilliant century from Suryakumar Yadav. While people praised the exceptional talent of Surya, former Indian wicketkeeper batter Parthiv Patel praised Hardik Pandya’s captaincy and on field decisions. He hailed the allrounder for being very meticulous with his thinking and lauded his bowling changes.

India were sent to bat after losing the toss and the visitors posted a handsome total of 191 with Suryakumar Yadav grabbing all the headlines. However it was still a very fighting total with the Kiwis having the firepower to chase it down. But due to Hardik’s planning and shrewd bowling changes Kane Williamson’s men collapsed and were cleaned up at 126 within 18.5 overs. Deepak Hooda picked up four wickets with his career best bowling performance whereas Yuzvendra Chahal and Mohammed Siraj picked up two wickets each.

Parthiv felt that it is not easy to step in as a stand-in captain for a series with Rohit Sharma being rested. But till now Hardik has proven that he has that leadership quality in him, whether be it for Gujarat Titans or for the Indian national team.

Parthiv Patel lauded his bowling changes and highlighted how the Indian captain changed the game with his meticulous thinking. “I thought Hardik was brilliant with his captaincy and bowling changes as well. He gave only one over to Arshdeep Singh initially. If at all the game got closer, he wanted to have that bank of Arshdeep’s three overs after 10 overs,” Patel told Cricbuzz following India’s big win.

The former Indian wicket keeper batter compared Hardik’s usage of Deepak Hooda with the way Jose Buttler uses Ben Stokes in general. Stokes did a more than decent job at the T20 World Cup as he added another dimension to the English bowling attack. Similarly Hooda has that ability and must be given the ball more often.

“He (Hardik Pandya) brought in Deepak Hooda at the right time. That’s something which Jos Buttler did successfully with Ben Stokes throughout that World Cup. He brought Hooda in at the 11th over. Obviously, you don’t look at those four wickets. The way he has used all the bowlers, it was very good to see,” Patel added.

While Patel does not bother much about the four wickets picked up by the spinner, he is more intrigued by the usage of the bowlers. Hooda picked up the wicket of Daryl Mitchell in the 12th over and it was a crucial breakthrough for the Men in Blue. He then picked three wickets in the 19 over as he cleaned up New Zealand’s tail with wickets of Ish Sodhi, Adam Milne and Tim Southee.