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Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan launched a scathing attack on Hardik Pandya without mincing his words. Irfan suggested that Hardik is 'over-hyped' and that Indian cricket needs to stop giving so much priority to the Mumbai Indians (MI) captain as he has yet to perform consistently on big occasions. Irfan also affirmed that Hardik has not done justice to his potential and is yet to make any significant impact while playing for India.
"What I feel about Hardik Pandya is that Indian cricket needs to make it clear that they should not give him that much priority as they have given him so far because we still haven't won the World Cup. And if you think you are a primary all-rounder, you need to make that kind of an impact at the international level. As far as the all-rounder is concerned he hasn't made that impact at the international level, we are only thinking about the potential," Irfan Pathan said on the Star Sports Press Room Show.
Irfan underlines importance of prioritising team over individuals
Furthermore, Irfan asserted that an individual's performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL) should not be mixed with his returns on the international level. Irfan also lashed out at Hardik's decision to pick and choose the format of the sport he desires to play, underlining that the all-rounder needs to play throughout the year.
"We are getting confused between the IPL performances and the international performances. That's a big difference. First of all he needs to play throughout the full year. He cannot pick and choose. Indian cricket needs to stop doing that. Stop giving preferences to individuals, if you do that, you will not be winning major tournaments. What Australia has been doing for many years is that they are actually preferring the team game. Making everyone a superstar. Not one superstar, everybody is a superstar in the squad. If you don't do that, you will not win big tournaments," the former India cricketer said.
Hardik Pandya is enduring a horrendous run in the ongoing edition of the cash-rich tournament. Hardik has struggled to make an impact either with the ball or bat while his captaincy has been widely scrutinised as well. With the bat, Hardik has scored 151 runs in eight matches at a strike rate of 142.45 while with the ball, the right-arm pacer has bagged four wickets in eight matches at an economy rate of 11.44.
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