Over the course of the past 12 months, as India faced England in England, South Africa at home, Australia down under in white-ball cricket, and New Zealand on home soil across ODIs and T20Is, we’ve learnt something crucial: contrary to popular belief, the Men in Blue can survive without Jasprit Bumrah.
The batting order can be reshuffled if Suryakumar Yadav misfires. In the Asia Cup final, we learnt that the middle-lower order can adapt even if Abhishek Sharma doesn’t fire at the top. But India cannot function without Hardik Pandya – not only because he is one of India’s most gifted cricketers, but because he is the most necessary one.
In the modern era of T20 cricket, balance matters more than brilliance, and Pandya is the axis around which India’s structure rotates. Since 2024, India have won 25 of the 28 T20Is in which the all-rounder has featured. His presence allows India to bat deep while retaining six bowling options, with an added cushion in the pace department – a luxury only a few teams enjoy. Without him, there is compromise; with him, expansion. While Bumrah wins you matches, Pandya structures campaigns.
Go back to the 2024 T20 World Cup final. Defending 16 runs against South Africa under pressure that makes most players crumble, Pandya delivered a spell of controlled hostility to seal India’s title. “It was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders,” he admitted afterwards.
It had been a year of relentless tests for Pandya. The emotional toll was evident in the moments that followed the World Cup win – public backlash, unrelenting scrutiny and the brutal spotlight that came with the Mumbai Indians captaincy. Boos from the boundary rope, thousands of abusive tweets daily, and overnight he became public enemy number one.
Hardik Pandya is a diamond forged in adversity. His relationship with hardship predates the pressures of fame. On 26 January, marking ten years of his international career, Pandya recalled the extra miles run in Baroda, the deliveries bowled in empty nets, and the failures no one witnessed. Becoming an all-rounder out of necessity to carve a place in domestic cricket, he has now become a necessity for the national team. “Getting to play for my desh has been the most worthwhile journey for me,” Pandya wrote in his Instagram post.
To understand his importance in India’s ICC campaigns, one only needs to look at his T20 World Cup numbers. Pandya has played 24 matches, scoring 357 runs at a strike-rate of 142 while batting lower down the order, and has taken 24 wickets at an average of 21.66. He is the only player in tournament history to register multiple 50-plus scores while batting at number five or lower. His innings against England in the 2022 T20 World Cup – 63 off 33 balls in a semi-final – was further proof of the difference his presence makes. He embodies composure under pressure.
He is a once-in-a-generation talent who understands tempo and absorbs pressure like few others. Even without the captain’s armband, or as deputy, Pandya remains India’s tactical ballast.
This World Cup, just around the corner, will not be about Pandya proving his greatness. It will be about him once again carrying the weight of being indispensable. While the team is stacked with stars and aggressive batters, Pandya remains the spine. As India walk into the World Cup as favourites, if they lift the trophy, it will be because Pandya once again held everything together when it mattered most.
