How will India compensate for the absence of Hardik Pandya against New Zealand in the World Cup?
India will play without Hardik Pandya in its next World Cup match against New Zealand. It is not hidden from anyone how important a player he is for the team. It is not possible to replace his all-round skills in the playing XI.
As a result, India will have to field an imperfectly balanced team in Dharamshala, no matter which route they take.
IND vs NZ: Will India play the match with six bowlers?
If the Indian team wants six bowlers with more depth, their option is to bring in R Ashwin in place of Pandya. This would mean a weak lower-middle order with Ravindra Jadeja at number six.
A more correct approach would be to replace Pandya with one batsman and play only five bowlers. Suryakumar Yadav has the X-factor, while Ishan Kishan has more ODI playing experience and gives India an additional left-handed batsman option.
Can Shardul Thakur be brought as the fifth bowler?
However, India may face potential bowling problems by replacing Pandya with a player who only bats. But the team may have reservations about selecting Shardul Thakur as one of the fifth bowling options.
The role as the sixth bowler that Shardul has been playing so far in the World Cup gives India depth in batting at number 8. But can the team trust him to bowl a good ten-over spell against New Zealand? This is also a big question.
It is impossible to fill the void of Hardik Pandya :-
If India replace Pandya with Suryakumar or Kishan and replace Thakur with Ashwin, they will have good batting depth and a fifth bowler who can be trusted to bowl ten overs. But this will leave them with only two fast bowlers – Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj – and three spinners – Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav.
So this tells us that no matter how hard the Indian team tries, it cannot compensate for the lack of Hardik Pandya, it can only try to make a balanced team. Now it will be interesting to see who he brings to the team in place of Hardik Pandya.
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