Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on Wednesday impressed by Hardik Pandya’s cameo in India’s convincing win in the Asia Cup T20 opener against Bangladesh and called the young all-rounder an “overall package” who could be promoted in the batting order in the coming days.
Pandya’s 18-ball 31played a big role in India’s 45-run win.
“Batting fearlessly is Hardik’s strength and that’s why we want to give him more matches, he’s a good fielder too and a useful third seamer,” Dhoni said at the post-match presentation ceremony. “He is an overall package we can promote him often,” as that gives them the option of “playing an extra batsman”.
Dhoni further added: “The way Rohit batted that was needed. It would’ve been good to win the toss. We wanted to see the kind of start and then set a target. It was kind of 55-45 with the toss. Rather than hitting the big shots straight down, it was important to cut and use such shots since they were bowling short of length.”
And about his muscle spasm, which he suffered on Monday, Dhoni said, “I’ll be able to sit tomorrow.”
Man of the Match Rohit said: “It’s important for me to start afresh and not look back too much. This is a perfect platform for us before the World Cup.”