Hardik Pandya enjoys 'special' contribution in series win against England

All-rounder starred with bat and ball for India in T20 and ODI legs of tour

Rishabh Pant celebrates reaching his century that helped India beat England at Old Trafford in the third ODI on Sunday, July 17, 2022. Getty

India's Rishabh Pant on the attack during his knock of 125 from 113 balls. AFP

India batsman Rishabh Pant is congratulated by teammates after hitting the winning runs at Old Trafford and sealing a 2-1 series victory for the tourists. Getty

India's Rishabh Pant hits out on his way to 125. PA

England's Craig Overton celebrates after taking the wicket of India batter Surya Yadav for 16. Getty

India's Hardik Pandya plays a shot on his way to his quickfire 71 off 55 balls. AFP

India batter Virat Kohli after being caught by England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler off the bowling of Reece Topley. Reuters

India's Virat Kohli walks back to the pavilion after losing his wicket for 17. AFP

England bowler Reece Topley celebrates after taking the wicket of India's Rohit Sharma for 17. Getty

England's Reece Topley celebrates after taking the wicket of India opener Shikhar Dhawan for one. Reuters

India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant catches out England's Moeen Ali for 34 off the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja. Getty

India's Ravindra Jadeja celebrates catching out England captain Jos Buttler for 60. AFP

England captain Jos Buttler hits a four off the bowling of India's Mohammed Siraj. Reuters

India fielder Virat Kohli weaves at the crowd after the wicket of England batter Moeen Ali. Getty

India's Hardik Pandya takes the catch off his own bowling to dismiss England batsman Ben Stokes. Getty

England batter Ben Stokes after losing his wicket for 27. Getty

England opener Jason Roy hit 41 off 31 balls. Reuters

India bowler Mohammed Siraj celebrates after taking the wicket of Joe Root. Getty

England batsman Joe Root leaves the field after being dismissed for a duck. Getty

England batter Jonny Bairstow lofts the ball into the air before being caught by Shreyas Iyer of India for a duck. Getty

India's Mohammed Siraj and Virat Kohli celebrate the wicket of England opener Jonny Bairstow. Reuters

All-rounder Hardik Pandya has come a long way since his back surgery in 2019, reinforcing his position as the premier white-ball cricketer in the Indian team.

Having spent a majority of the past two seasons either on the sidelines or playing just as a batsman, Pandya regained full fitness during the IPL earlier this year, guiding new franchise Gujarat Titans to the title and has not looked back since.

Timely contributions with bat and ball in the white-ball tour of England have made Pandya the No 1 limited overs cricketer in the Indian squad once again, with his fitness and workload being the only possible stumbling blocks heading into the T20 World Cup.

In the third one-dayer against England in Manchester on Sunday, Pandya was at his best as he took an ODI best 4-24 to dismiss the hosts for 259 in the absence of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.

Then in the chase, the 28-year-old smashed 71 off just 55 balls and shared a decisive partnership of 133 in 19 overs with Rishabh Pant (125 not out) after the tourists had collapsed to 72-4 in the face of another fine new-ball spell by Reece Topley.

Victory, completed with more than seven overs to spare, gave India a 2-1 series success after they won the preceding T20 campaign against 50-over world champions by the same margin.

"It's always special to contribute in all departments," player-of-the-series Pandya said.

"We knew Jasprit was not going to play this game. He was telling me that I might have to bowl a couple of overs at the death, I said they are 'very big shoes to fill'.

"I had to step up, not at the death, but in making sure that in the middle overs I got the breakthroughs."

With India staging next year's 50-over World Cup, and a T20 World Cup in Australia in October before that, Pandya's focus was firmly on the future. For now, he was happy to enjoy a job well done.

"England have been fantastic throughout the last couple of years, everyone found England one of the best teams in the world. To come here and perform and win is more important."

Pandya made a similar contribution in the T20 series as well. In the first T20 in Southampton, Pandya hit a quick 51 before picking up 4-33 in a comprehensive win for the visitors.

Meanwhile, England captain Jos Buttler admitted he will need time to grow into his role after his side slipped to another series defeat against India.

When Eoin Morgan stepped down from England duty last month, Buttler was the logical successor, but he has started his white-ball reign with losses in both the T20 and one-day series.

However, Buttler accepted he is a relative novice as skipper, so in the weeks and months ahead he will be relying on guidance from head coach Matthew Mott and other experienced players in the dressing room.

"I feel like a really experienced cricketer, but in terms of captaincy I'm quite a young captain with lots of opportunity to grow and learn about the role," he said.

"I think it will take a bit of time, I want to try and walk before I can run, I've just got to [it] work out, be myself and use the people around me to help me.

"There's such experienced guys in the dressing room and all the coaching staff have been really helpful for me and I can certainly lean on those guys to assist me."