Hardik Pandya brings balance, his absence will be felt – Venkatapathy Raju

Former Indian player Venkatapathy Raju believes Virat Kohli’s team will miss a seam-bowling all-rounder in the upcoming World Test Championship final against New Zealand and the five-match Test series against England. Hardik Pandya hasn’t been selected for the England tour as he isn’t bowling at full throttle.

Pandya brings balance to the Indian Test team as a seam bowling all-rounder and he could have been a crucial player, especially in the English conditions. However, Pandya hasn’t bowled consistently since he has returned from recovering from a back injury.

Pandya feels his body isn’t ready for the adversities of Test cricket and had recently added that he wants to concentrate more on the limited overs format. The all-rounder had played his last Test match back in 2018 against England.

On the other hand, New Zealand have all-rounders like Colin de Grandhomme and Kyle Jamieson. Jamieson has had an impressive start to his Test career and he can generate extra bounce from the surface with the help of his height.

“New Zealand have good all-rounders. Their batting looks strong. Kyle Jamieson is in very good form with the red ball, getting wickets against India, West Indies and Pakistan. Because of his height, he gets good bounce and also gives an extra boost as an all-rounder. New Zealand have good fast bowling all-rounders while India have good spinning all-rounders. This is where Hardik brings the balance overseas and his absence will be felt,” Raju told Sportskeeda.

Meanwhile, India have got a potent pace battery and they will be looking to tick the right boxes as a unit. India have experienced fast bowlers like Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav.

“India have got a good pace bowling attack under helpful conditions. They also have the experience with Ishant Sharma having 302 Test wickets, Md Shami with 180 Test wickets and Bumrah with 83. If the conditions are dry, India are well equipped with two genuine spinning all-rounders in Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Jadeja came back after missing a major part of the Australia tour and showed in IPL that he was getting into rhythm with his deadly all-round abilities. Also, when you have Umesh Yadav and Md Siraj, who has done brilliantly, sitting out, this is the best combination India have.”

India and New Zealand will face off against each other in the WTC final at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton from June 18.