3 medium-pace bowling all-rounders who must be groomed as Hardik Pandya's backup

In a recent interview, former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir warned Team India to find a backup for Hardik Pandya. He mentioned that if Hardik gets injured, India would be in serious trouble. It needs to be seen if the selection committee would take note of this. There are a lot of options that the management has in the nation. On that note, in this article, we take a look at 3 medium-pace bowling all-rounders who must be groomed as Hardik Pandya's backup.

1) Raj Bawa

The recent U19 World Cup winner, Raj Bawa is the perfect option for Team India to groom as Hardik Pandya's replacement. While Bawa is a good medium-pacer, he is a left-handed batter and this would also tick other boxes required to build a balanced XI. Yes, Bawa is young and might take time. Hence, the selectors might ponder whether to already include him in India A setup.

2) Venkatesh Iyer

Venkatesh Iyer is one of the medium-pace bowling all-rounders who must be groomed as Hardik Pandya's backup. A few months ago, Venkatesh Iyer already had his spot in the Indian Team as Hardik's backup. However, he lost his spot in the squad. Nevertheless, keeping in mind the urgency to find Hardik's backup, Venkatesh Iyer would be the obvious choice. He has already played for India under pressure and done well with the bat in the middle-order. It is just his bowling that needs to be improved.

3) Prerak Mankad

Prerak Mankad is an experienced name in the domestic circuit but he is yet to get a taste of playing under pressure. Lucknow Super Giants might give him a few games in IPL 2023 and it needs to be seen how he would perform. Nevertheless, based on domestic form, Prerak is worthy of being considered as an option for Hardik's backup.