We can’t consider Hardik Pandya a fifth bowler: Cheteshwar Pujara

Team India suffered their first loss in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 on Sunday as they were defeated by the arch-rivals Pakistan in a thrilling Super 4 clash at the Dubai International Stadium.

For the second time in Asia Cup 2022, the outcome of an India-Pakistan match was decided in the final over. But this time, Pakistan, who were chasing 182, were on the winning side, defeating India by five wickets, with a ball to spare.

Talking about the match, India Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara questioned the India team selection for the high-voltage clash and said that the management should have opted for an extra bowler instead of relying completely on Hardik Pandya.

“Hardik has been bowling well, but we can’t consider him a fifth bowler. I think expecting four overs from him every time is not correct. However, we didn’t have enough choices because Avesh Khan was ill. In the future, there might be a few changes in the team, and if Hardik continues to play the role of the sixth bowler, it would be better,” Pujara was quoted saying during an interaction on ESPNCricinfo.

Notably, Hardik, who was named Player of the Match in the team’s campaign opener against Pakistan, was a complete flop in the second encounter against Babar Azam-led side as he conceded 44 runs in his quota of four overs and picked up just one wicket. The all-rounder even failed to contribute in batting department as he out for a duck.

Meanwhile, Pujara also said that the batting in the middle overs cost India the game while heaping praise on Mohammad Rizwan and Mohammad Nawaz, who scored 71 off 51 balls and 42 off 20 balls respectively to take the game away from India.

“I think Pakistan played very well, especially Mohammad Rizwan and Mohammad Nawaz’s promotion in the batting order. He played with a good strike rate which played an X-factor for Pakistan. Our bowling could have been better, but I feel that we could have scored 15-20 more runs on this wicket. It was 190-200 wickets. We didn’t bat well during the middle overs,” Pujara added.

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