Why Hardik Pandya is Team India’s MVP for ICC Champions Trophy

When Hardik Pandya went down twing his ankle three balls into his opening spell at the MCA Stadium in Pune mid-way through the ODI World Cup in 2023, captain Rohit Sharma and India were forced to rethink their strategies and shed a few inhibitions.
Mohammad Shami dropped in as the new first-change pacer behind Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, shortening the team’s batting depth. Shami would go on a tear with 24 wickets, including three five-wicket hauls and a sparkling 7/57 in the semi-final against New Zealand. Pandya was not missed with the ball as a menacing seam trio was formed. With Rohit, Virat Kohli, and other top-order bats in great spirits, the finishers weren’t in great demand either, until everything came crashing down in the final against Australia.
On Sunday, playing in only his second ODI since that fateful hot afternoon in Gahunje, Pandya went down again in the first over of another bowling spell at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, pained a sloppy effort on the ball. The expectant Cuttack crowd, witnessing a 50-over game for the first time since 2019, was stubbed to early silence the English openers. Ben Duckett and Phil Salt had pocketed seven boundaries in the first five overs as Mohammed Shami and Harshit Rana continually erred offering length deliveries outside the wickets channel.
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While Shami was more erratic with his lines to southpaw Duckett from round the stumps, Rana’s short balls failed to extract a threatening lift. Rohit turned to Pandya in the sixth over and the all-rounder nearly struck instantly with ploys dipped in aggression.
Placing a deep backward point fielder within the Powerplay, Pandya wanted the openers to have their fun square off the wicket. While Duckett nailed a square cut for four, Pandya had almost hooked Salt into the trap with a wide bumper outside the off-stump. Salt’s mimed slash off the rising delivery parried straight to Axar Patel at the deep backward fence but a languid effort would deprive India and Hardik of an early breakthrough. Pandya would sink to his knees in disbelief before extending a smile and an arm of understanding to his statemate Axar.
Deliveries kissing the wide tramline outside the off-stump can be sinful when bowlers, lacking nous and fortitude, operate on it. Not for Pandya, whose tremendous 2024 redemption arc, has offered India an indispensable all-rounder who exudes confidence in both departments. Mastering variations on this tramline channel, Pandya had memorably lit up India’s epochal T20 World Cup final comeback last year in Barbados.
A wafting length off-cutter plugged a buccaneering Heinrich Klaasen caught-behind before a nerveless Pandya would stand ground and seal a title-winning final over shortly thereafter. It was not a random drop on the roulette when all hope seemed to have faded. Thinking on his feet under mind-numbing pressure, Pandya had outthought South Africa’s most menacing bat. Story continues below this ad
India’s Hardik Pandya plays a shot during the fourth T20 cricket match between England and India in Pune, India, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo)
“Just before the ball, I just told him (Rohit) that I’m gonna go wide to Klaasen and I just knew that he’s gonna expect a ball which is on the stumps. His leg was a little to the leg side, so I knew that he was going to try and hit me there and that’s when I, just before my run-up, just looked at him and said I’m going to go slow because I didn’t set a field for a slower ball. I had to outfox him or I had to be a little one up in the game so he’s not aware of what ball is coming, because the way he was hitting it was just tremendous. That just opened the door for us,” Pandya recalled in a recent video shared the ICC.
Pandya’s expanding bowling arsenal and bowling smarts have seen him develop the temper to operate in all phases with the white ball in both formats. During the recent five T20Is against England, Pandya was a seam constant as India deployed three spinners and a rotational front-line pacer in Arshdeep Singh and Shami. In the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy group stages last December, Pandya manned the new ball for Baroda in each of the three games he played in with his developing swing-bowling prowess.
In the two ODI this series, the 31-year-old has returned his old middle-overs and death utilities while also fronting up with the new ball, offering cushion to his seam partners. With uncertainty looming over Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness, nine days out from India’s Champions Trophy opener, the strategic forecast predicts a fallback to India’s original ‘23 WC plan where Pandya steps in as the third pacer.
A three-pronged spin attack headlined all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel commend a better balance, but Pandya will remain integral to the overall bowling combination too. Batting at 7 in both matches this series, one can assume that the Baroda all-rounder has a greater purpose with the ball behind Shami and the second quick. The scars of ‘23 and the highs of ‘24 have cast him battle-ready for the 50-over task this year.

Lalith Kalidas is a Senior Sub-Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Working with the online sports desk, Lalith specializes in the happenings on the cricket field, with a particular interest in India’s domestic cricket circle. He also carries an affinity towards data-driven stories and often weaves them into cricketing contexts through his analysis. Lalith also writes the weekly stats-based cricket column – ‘Stats Corner’. A former cricketer who has played in state-level tournaments in Kerala, he has over three years of experience as a sports journal. Lalith also covered the 2023 ODI World Cup held in India. … Read More