Hardik Pandya Is A Very Vital Player For The Indian Cricket Team, Says Kane Williamson

India all-rounder Hardik Pandya has garnered immense appreciation after his performances in the recent past and some have even compared him with the best all-rounder India have ever produced- Kapil Dev. Pandya has certainly emerged out to be a vital cog in the Indian cricket team and in a very little time, he has created a separate niche for himself and cemented his place in the Virat Kohli-led side. India will next face New Zealand at home and the visiting captain Kane Williamson is already singing praises for the all-rounder. "Certainly in the last year or two, he's been playing outstandingly well," Williamson said ahead of the limited over series against the hosts.

"We saw it in the IPL. And even in the series against us, he bowled very well. Now, we're seeing him come along with the bat and making contributions that any team would be pretty happy to have from their all-rounder," Williamson added.

"He's a very vital player for the Indian side in terms of a fast bowling all-rounder that I suppose in these conditions, it accommodates the spinners so much, but to have a fast bowling all-rounder that bowls good pace and hits it out of the park is always exciting to have," added Williamson.

Pandya has played an important role in recent times in the limited overs games for India and in the ODI series won 4 -1 by India, he scored 222 runs at just over 55 per innings with 83 as his highest score, besides taking six wickets with his brisk medium pace.

Incidentally, the 24-year-old Baroda cricketer had made his ODI debut against the Kiwis at Dharamsala when they visited last year and his career graph has been on an upswing since then.

His performance against Australia has impressed former captain Ian Chappell so much that he wrote in his newspaper column that Pandya "is potentially the the fast-bowling allrounder India have craved since Kapil Dev retired."

The Kiwis are scheduled to start the tour with two practice games at the Cricket Club of India here on October 17 and 19 before plunging into the ODI series with the first game commencing at the Wankhede Stadium on October 22.

They will play three T20Is after the conclusion of the ODI series, with the last one scheduled on November 7 at Thiruvananthapuram.

(With PTI inputs)