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Apart from Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav, Pandya is arguably the irreplaceable player in India’s squad for the role he plays. He is good enough to play as a specialist batsman but his bowling gives India the sixth leg they desperately need. Pandya had bowled 16 overs in India’s first three matches in the World Cup and took five wickets.
Shardul Thakur, a specialist fast bowler, has only bowled eight overs in two matches, and Rohit Sharma would prefer to go for Pandya ahead of Thakur in this World Cup so far.
India have been cautious about whether Pandya will qualify for the World Cup precisely because of the balance he brings to the team. If he misses a match, India can only replace him for half the lot. Either Shardul Thakur bats at number 7 and they replace Pandya’s bowling or they bring in an extra batter and rely on the five bowlers to bowl 10 overs each.
With three wins in three matches, India are one of two unbeaten teams in this World Cup. After Bangladesh, their next match is in Dharamsala on Sunday against New Zealand, who are the only other unbeaten team in the tournament having registered four wins in four matches.
