Hardik Pandya has been fighting a long and tough battle with his body. The Baroda all-rounder has not been able to recover from the back injury he sustained long back in 2018. He got his chances but could not do much for his team and now India is suddenly sort of a fine fast-bowling all-rounder. Even if Hardik plays purely as a batter, he does not have the numbers to back himself. This has left the selectors with no other option but to look for Hardik Pandya’s replacements and it seems they finally have a few names to discuss.
Venkatesh Iyer is the first name that is being touted as Pandya’s replacement and the Madhya Pradesh cricketer has proven why. However, the selectors would not repeat their mistake of backing a single name as they did with Pandya. Although they might argue there wasn’t one. But now is the time India looks at the possible replacements for Hardik Pandya.
Here are five players who can prove to be a good replacement for Hardik Pandya.
1. Venkatesh Iyer
Venkatesh Iyer has been doing well in the domestic circuit for a long time now but had to go through another test i.e. the IPL. And Iyer passed this test with flying colors. He was phenomenal for Kolkata Knight Riders and turned their fortunes around in the second leg of IPL 2022. His bowling is yet to be tested, but whatever he has done till now shows that he is a good bowler too.
In the 2021-22 Vijay Hazare Trophy, Iyer amassed 379 runs in 6 games at an average of 63.16 and a strike rate of 133.92. He also took 9 wickets with an economy rate of 5.75. Iyer has been included in the ODI squad for South Africa and his performances there will determine whether he will be a regular in the Indian team or not.
