'His Form Will be Crucial, He Does Both Things': Rohit Explains Star Cricketer's Importance in World Cup 2023

Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar recently pointed out how the presence of an adequate number of allrounders was crucial to India winning the ODI World Cups in 1983 and 2011. In India’s 15-man squad for the upcoming World Cup in October-November, there are as many as four allrounders including Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur and Axar Patel.

India captain Rohit Sharma knows the importance of players capable of making solid contributions across departments and therefore thinks that the form of Hardik Pandya, the team’s premier allrounder, will be vital to their chances of lifting the ODI world cup trophy.

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Pandya has shown he’s peaking at the right time having produced a superb innings under pressure to rescue India out of trouble in their Asia Cup 2023 opener against Pakistan last week.

He has been regularly taking wickets and seems to be back bowling at full throttle now.

“His (Pandya’s) form will be crucial to us. He’s a guy who does both the things (batting and bowling), and that’s important,” Rohit told reporters during a media interaction on Tuesday.

“In the last year or so he has come up with the bat and his bowling has been good too. That’s important for us. You saw the quality in the last game against Pakistan. Ishan and Hardik put their hands up and scored well. Obviously, with bowling too he’s great. He has bowled well in the last year and a half for us,” he added.

Pandya scored 87 off 90 against Pakistan after India were reduced to 66/4 and Rohit said it’s a knock that reflects his maturity.

“The way he batted in the last game showed that he has a very mature head on his shoulders. These are good signs for us,” said Rohit.

Rohit is happy with the squad India will be playing with during the world cup.

“We’re happy. This is the best we can do with balance and depth. We have three all-rounders in the team, 4 bowlers and six batters. We have thought about it a lot and named this squad. This is the best combination for us,” he said.

Rohit says he’s not concerned by the outside noise about his team especially about their blockbuster clash with Pakistan at the world cup, scheduled for October 14.

“We don’t care about what is said outside. All the boys are professionals and they have seen all this. It doesn’t make a huge difference,” said Rohit.