T20 World Cup 2021: Sunil Gavaskar thinks this player can replace Hardik Pandya

With the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021 every country is preparing their best teams to chase the trophy and bring it back home. Similarly, India chose the finest batters for the world cup and created an impactful team. Hardik Pandya is a member of the Indian squad but unfortunately, his streak of disappointing performances are continuing for a long.

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We are standing just two weeks away from the T20 world cup 2021 and the form of each and every cricketer is extremely crucial for the team. In the second leg of IPL 2021, Pandya failed to impress. Also, he did not bowl a single over which can be hard for the Indian team in the T20 World Cup. The lack of efficient fast bowling all-rounders in the Indian team is nothing new and an absolute matter of concern. And the off-form of such an important cricketer like Hardik Pandya can certainly be bad news for the team. Therefore there have been a lot of rumors about the replacement of Pandya.

Mahela Jayawardene said on Hardik Pandya's bowling:

Mahela Jayawardene, head coach of Mumbai Indians said in a virtual pre-match press conference before MI vs DC on Saturday, "Whether he can bowl in the IPL or not is something that we will have to look it on a daily basis and evaluate and then see how he progresses. But at the moment, if you push too hard, it might be an issue where you might even struggle and might not be an asset even as a batsman. So that's something we will have to take into account and with consideration with all concerned parties and take it a day at a time."

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Sunil Gavaskar, the former Indian cricketer, commented on the present form of Hardik Pandya and also suggested his replacement. Venkatesh Iyer, the newest addition to the Kolkata Knight Riders is creating a huge buzz in the world of cricket right now. He scored 193 runs in only 5 matches including two half-centuries. He utilized the moment of absence of Andre Russell and proved himself to be a great all-rounder by scoring runs for the team and picking up 3 wickets as a medium pacer. Sunil Gavaskar is impressed by the debutante's performance.

This is what experienced cricketers said about Venkatesh:

Gavaskar wrote in his latest column for the TOI, "In Venkatesh Iyer, Kolkata have unearthed a player who can be the all-rounder that India is looking for. His bowing is not express, but he gets the yorker right more than not and doesn't let the batsman slog him. As a batsman, he plays upright, which gets into a great position to play the short ball, and he drives beautifully through the off-side like all left-handers seem to do." 

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Brendon McCullum, the coach of KKR said, "Venkatesh Iyer is definitely an all-rounder. It is not just his cricketing ability, it is his mindset and cricketing brain. He has a great perspective on the sport and he is a guy with huge ambitions, he has a great future as a genuine all-rounder. I think he is one of those cricketers who is going to get better and better. I think what he has done so far shows he belongs at this level."