Hardik Pandya comeback, Rishabh Pant’s form huge boost for India’s lower middle-order in T20Is: Deep Dasgupta

England tour of India, 2021: Former India cricketer Deep Dasgupta has said that Hardik Pandya’s comeback in the Indian T20 setup along with Rishabh Pant’s form is a huge boost for the hosts.

India are all set to play a five-match T20I series, starting on Friday (March 12), against England with all fixtures at the same venue, in Ahmedabad. Hardik Pandya’s back injury, that had sidelined him for quite a while, still keeps him from bowling as he regularly did. But his comeback in the white-ball leg of the Australia tour last year, following IPL 2020, boosted India’s lower middle-order struggles. India have always had a strong top-order and higher middle order with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli leading from the front with the bat. “During the New Zealand tour, Virat came out and said ‘India needs to play more fearless cricket’ and I think that’s how they have been playing. In the middle overs, of course, you’ve had Virat and Rohit [to keep the strike rate up],” Deep Dasgupta said on Sports Today.