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Former India captain Gautam Gambhir, who played a significant role in India's T20 World Cup triumph in 2007 and ODI World Cup win in 2011, has sounded the alarm bells for the Men in Blue. The former opening batter has affirmed that India needs to find a 'back-up' for star all-rounder Hardik Pandya as the Men in Blue begin their preparation for the 2023 ODI World Cup. Hardik, who is currently leading India in the T20I series against Sri Lanka, has been injury prone during his career. His remarkable ability to contribute in all three facets of the game makes him one of India's most lethal weapons, at least in white-ball cricket.
"They need to quickly identify a back-up for Hardik; if something happens to him, India will be in serious, serious trouble," Gambhir said on 'Road To World Cup Glory', a show on Star Sports.
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan agreed with Gambhir's assessment and said that Hardik's back-up doesn't have to be a fast-bowling all-rounder.
"In these conditions, you're allowed to have two spinning allrounders," Irfan said.
"Guys like Washy (Washington Sundar), Axar [Patel], (Ravindra) Jadeja, and most importantly Deepak Hooda also (should be) in your scheme of things. Because he's a batter; he just took four wickets in the New Zealand series. He (Hooda) needs to get a long run," he added.
Meanwhile, under Hardik's captaincy, India kick-started 2023 on a winning note after debutant Shivam Mavi delivered a dream spell with the ball and rolled out the Men in Blue's path to a thrilling victory over Sri Lanka in the first T20I at the Wankhede Stadium on January 03 (Tuesday). Mavi snared 4/22 on his maiden international game to keep Sri Lankan batters in check while defending a 163-run target. India had to really eke out a win in the neck-to-neck encounter which could have gone either way had Axar Patel failed to defend 13 runs in the last over. India survived the Sri Lanka scare and won the match by two runs.
