Scott Styris Feels That Hardik Pandya Is A Real All-Rounder

Former New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris thinks that Hardik Pandya‘s rise means that Shardul Thakur will have to fight for his spot on the Indian team. Styris thinks Thakur can hit fours, play some innings that win the game, and also end an innings with a finishing touch.

But the former all-rounder from New Zealand thinks that Hardik is better than Thakur because he is a true all-rounder. And Styris thinks Thakur isn’t as good as Pandya. He also says Thakur is trying to get a spot on the bench. Pandya is in great form right now, and he also won the Player-of-the-Series award in the three-match ODI series against England that just ended.

“The one thing he has going for him is that he bats, and we’ve seen him play many match-winning innings for India, usually in the longer versions of the game,” said Styris on the SPORTS18 show “SPORTS OVER THE TOP.”

‘He does have the ability to hit fours, close out innings, or add the finishing touch,” said the 47-year-old.

“The bad news is that Hardik Pandya has become a real all-rounder. Do you need two players like that? Hardik Pandya is better than Shardul Thakur. I don’t believe Shardul is an all-rounder. So maybe he’s fighting for a spot as a back-up instead of a spot in the XI,” Styris said.

Pandya was the captain of Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2022. In their first season, he led the team to the championship. He was also named Player of the Match for his all-round performance in the final against Rajasthan Royals (RR), where he took three wickets and scored 34 runs.

Pandya scored 100 runs in two innings and took six wickets in the recently finished ODI series against England. India won the series 2-1, which was their first ODI series win in England since 2014.