New Delhi: Ecstatic after his maiden call-up into the Indian cricket team, all-rounder Hardik Pandya said that India A coach Rahul Dravid’s guidance during the Australia tour has made him “mentally stronger”.
“For me, everything changed after my tour of Australia. It is a tour that transformed me as a cricketer. I can’t but thank Rahul Dravid enough for his contribution. I understood that there is a mental aspect about the game that needs to be worked upon. He (Dravid) made me mentally stronger,” Hardik said Thursday.
“I don’t think I have learnt more than what I did during those one and half months under Rahul sir. He would tell me about things that I need to try out. I was mentally strong but after interacting with him, I understood that I could get even better. If my bowling is being talked about today, it’s because of Rahul sir and Paras Mhambrey (India A bowling coach).”
Terming it as the biggest day of his life, Pandya said, “Playing Test cricket is ultimate for anyone and I am no different. Yes, this is my biggest achievement till date.”
Talking about his bowling, Hardik said, “The more you practise the craft, better you get at it. I bowled so much in Australia that it yielded results when I was back with the senior team. I became more consistent, hit the right length. The increase in pace has got a lot to do with the rhythm. If I am in rhythm, the pace will automatically increase by a few yards. The more I play at this level, the better I will get.”
Hardik has played white ball cricket (T20s and ODIs) at the highest level and he is confident that he can also make the red cherry talk. “The Red SG Test does more than the white kookaburra. So, as a bowler, I have more opportunity to use variations. I back myself as a proper new ball bowler and I believe that I can use the reverse swing to good effect also.”
Speaking about his batting, Hardik is realistic about his position in case he gets a look-in in the playing XI. “I used to bat at No 3 for Baroda and then I have been batting at No 5 in Ranji Trophy. I have to be realistic that in the Indian team, I can’t bat at No 5. I would be probably batting at No 8 or No 9. I am perfectly fine with it. I am ready to bat at any position,” Hardik said and there was an element of conviction in his statement.
Allardice lauds Kumble efforts
ICC’s General Manager of cricket affairs Geoff Allardice Thursday termed India coach Anil Kumble’s role as ‘instrumental’ in assessing the upgraded Decision Review System and his support proved to be pivotal in using the technology in the upcoming England series.
Kumble, in his capacity as chairman of ICC’s Cricket Committee, had gone to MIT where the engineers worked on the upgraded technology of DRS, which largely helped him convince BCCI to come on board for the England series.
During a teleconference with the Indian media, Allardice said, “I know he’s (Kumble) been part of the pre-committee for I think four years now, and one of the things that he was keen to do when he came on as chairman was to make sure that the technologies that were used as part of DRS were assessed independently and he’s driven a lot of that project and it’s taken a while to get to the stage where we’ve got results of testing, etc.
“But he (Kumble) has been very supportive of the project. He was also in the pre-committee meeting in May last year when the results of the majority of the tests were presented. He was aware of the pre committee’s position, which was that they wanted a more consistent use of technology across international matches,” Allardice stated.
Press Trust of India