Against Pakistan, he filled in the anchor-accumulator-destroyer role, like the former captain in his prime.
Early this year, Hardik Pandya was asked about playing the MS Dhoni role in the ODIs. Pandya would matter-of-factly reply: “I don’t mind coming in and playing the role which somewhere down the line Mahi used to play.” But the sudden comparison weighed him down and he admitted: “But I have to evolve and that is life.”It was a practical assessment because it’s a difficult and rare art to perfect—he has to blend into different costumes in different circumstances. At times, he has to anchor, at times he has to accumulate, and at other times he has to wield the long handleOften, in the same innings, he has to play all three roles. That India have yet to fill the Dhoni-shaped hole tells how difficult it is to master the multiple roles he performed for a decade and more. But in his 90-ball 87 against a fast and furious Pakistan, he showed definite signs of him evolving into the Dhoni role. It was a knock straight out of the Dhoni playbook.
