‘Hungry’ Pandya becoming a good finisher for India: Kohli

Sydney, Dec 6 : Hardik Pandya may have proven himself to be a batsman in form in the ODI series by scoring a couple of 90s while batting deep and helping build India’s innings, but India skipper Virat Kohli feels that the all-rounder’s calling remains in finisher’s role, helping India win matches from any situation.
Pandya starred with the bat on Sunday, scoring a 22-ball 42 and hitting two sixes in the last over to help India win the second T20 International and seal the series.
India have been looking for a finisher in recent times after former skipper MS Dhoni retired and Suresh Raina not there in the scheme of things anymore. With Ravindra Jadeja, Pandya forms a power-packed duo at the back-end of India’s innings in limited-overs cricket.
“The reason for him coming to the team in 2016 was his pure ability. He was natural, raw talent… now he is quite experienced by playing a lot of T20 cricket in the IPL and for India. He now realises that this is his time, in the next 4-5 years, to really become that bankable middle-order player that can win you games from anywhere. You need that finisher, and he is becoming that for us. And he is hungry, he is going to keep getting better,” said Kohli after the end of the match.
Pandya, who has not been able to bowl during this limited overs series, had earlier on the tour said he is trying to play as a pure batsman, trying to take the game deep.
He acquitted himself well in the role of a batsman, scoring a couple of 90’s in the three-match ODI series.