On his day, Hardik Pandya can hurt the opposition with his cameos in the final overs. Ahead of the semifinal clash between India and England at Wankhede, former England cricketer Broad said that England would want Hardik to come in to bat around the 12th over, when he is not in the hitting zone, and the phase of the game when he is looking to construct an innings, it is the best possible time to get his wicket.
“If I am an England bowler, I think I need to get him in after 12 overs so I can bowl when he’s not in the hitting zone straightaway. He might think I would like to look at a few before going at the end. I would see that as my chance to get him out before he can hurt me in the last four overs. If India are just three or four down entering the death overs, that’s where India get over 200, and you are in a bit of trouble,” Broad said on the For the Love of Cricket podcast.
“If India sets up a good first ten overs, becomes a huge danger. When he walks in, he’s extremely confident. He has got an aura about him and an ego on him in a positive way. He just believes He can do the job. He is so wiry and slim that you think how he can hit the ball 100 metres like he does. But he does it so effortlessly,” he added.
Hardik, after a string of a few low scores in the World Cup, slammed a half-century against Zimbabwe. Analysing his own innings, Hardik said: “It sounds strange, 23-ball 50, but I think I had to reassess the situation as well. What I meant by that, I felt I was trying to hit too hard. And just in the game, I realised, I think I can time the ball and hit sixes as well. So I think for me, it was a good game to continue the rhythm because I feel a couple of games I had which I could not do what I wanted to do. So really satisfied,” he added.
