Hardik Pandya has been India's MVP in white-ball cricket for quite some time now. What he brings to the table as a seam bowler and an attacking middle-order batter is rare. In the Champions Trophy 2025, Pandya donned many hats for India. He was a defensive third seamer for the first two league games, trying to choke the batters in the middle overs, but when the tournament entered the business end, he shared the new ball with Mohammed Shami as India decided to field four spinners. As a batter, he was India's designated finisher, coming in at No.7 to play those crucial cameos in pressure situations, be it the semi-final against Australia or the final against New Zealand.
Former Pakistan cricketers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Hafeez believe Pandya punches above his weight whenever he walks out on the field. The Rawalpindi Express said Hardik Pandya is nowhere near a Brett Lee, Waqar Younis, Javagal Srinath or Brett Lee as a fast bowler but he does his job pretty well because he has been given the confidence.
"Hardik Pandya koi Malcolm Marshall ya Waqar Younis nahi hai. Javagal Srinath ya Brett Lee nahi hai. (Hardik is no Marshall, Waqar, Lee or Srinath). It's just his mindset. You throw him the new ball, he does it. You ask him in to bowl in the middle, he does it. However, he is not that powerful hitter also. He had given that belief that the world is your stage. The market allows you to become big," Akhtar said on 'Game on Hai.'
The former Pakistan speedster said Hardik's hitting was a norm in the team that he played in the early 2000s when the likes of Abdul Razzaq used to play. "Aisi hitting, ye hamari team mein aam thhi. (This type of hitting used to be a norm in the Pakistan team)He's really good, but this was the norm in Pakistan's team.
‘Abdul Razzaq better than Hardik Pandya’
{{/usCountry}}The former Pakistan speedster said Hardik's hitting was a norm in the team that he played in the early 2000s when the likes of Abdul Razzaq used to play. "Aisi hitting, ye hamari team mein aam thhi. (This type of hitting used to be a norm in the Pakistan team)He's really good, but this was the norm in Pakistan's team.
‘Abdul Razzaq better than Hardik Pandya’
{{/usCountry}}Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez agreed with Akhtar and added that Razzaq was better than Hardik.
"I would agree with him. You take out the details of Abdul Razzaq's performances. He was a better and bigger performer. But the system didn't look after him and the player also didn't respond that much. He was limited in his skills, didn't try to outdo his own potential. Whatever I've seen of Razzaq, he was better than this version of Hardiik," Hafeez said.
Akhtar reminded everyone of Razzaq's unbeaten 109 off 7 balls against South Africa in Dubai in 2010 where the all-rounder single-handedly won the match for Pakistan
"He was asked to open, played in the middle order and sometimes even lower order. He has done everything but he didn't get the respect until he won a match against South Africa single-handedly. I was at the other end. I defended a full toss and he said 'don't lift your bat'. I said I won't. He was hitting the ball so hard that day that I thought if the ball came towards me, it would go through me. But we didn't give him the respect, and neither did we give Azhar Mahmood the respect that he deserved. He was a great performer with the ball," Akhtar said.
'That was the best match that I have seen. We had lost that game mentally and physically but Razzaq won it alone," Hafeez added.