All-rounder Krunal Pandya reckoned that numbers don’t always reveal the contributions of players to their respective teams. The 30-year-old felt that more than facts and figures, it’s the utility of a cricketer that should be taken into consideration. Ahead of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction, Mumbai Indians (MI) released Pandya off his services.
Back in 2016, the Mumbai-based team roped in Pandya at a price of INR 2 crores and he went on to represent them for five seasons. In 84 matches, Pandya has notched 1143 runs at an average of 22.41 and a strike-rate of 138.55, although he scored only a solitary half-century with a top score of 86.
Albeit he didn’t spin the ball much, Pandya bowled at an economy rate of 7.37, having picked up 51 wickets at an average of 34.76. The 30-year-old was someone, who used to dart the ball at the batter and put a lid on the run-scoring.
The veteran had a lacklustre outings in the IPL 2021 after getting 143 runs from 13 matches and picking up a mere five wickets. But despite the indifferent run of form, Pandya sounded confident of making a strong comeback.
Pandya put forth his views while speaking to journalist Boria Majumdar on the latter’s YouTube show ‘Auction Reels’.
Krunal Pandya optimistic before IPL mega auction
“What I have felt is that I have always got better every year. Sometimes the numbers don’t justify what you have done or whether you are getting better or not. In a T20 format, every situation is different. How you have been used also matters a lot in a way,” Pandya was quoted as saying.
With the Ahmedabad-born Pandya in the team, MI, led by Rohit Sharma, have won the IPL title in 2017, 2019 and 2020 respectively. For the upcoming mega auction, Pandya is among the 48 cricketers, who set themselves a base price of INR 2 crores.
The mega auction is scheduled to take place on February 12 and 13. It remains to be seen which team picks Krunal Pandya and the amount he fetches in the auction. Pandya has also played five ODIs and nine T20Is for Team India.
