New Delhi: Already hailed as the future of Indian cricket, young all-rounder Hardik Pandya got his first man of the series award after helping India beat Australia 4-1 in the ODI series on Sunday.
In the series, he scored 222 runs at an average of 55.50. He also took six wickets. He set the tone for India's winning campaign with a match-winning 83 in the series opener in Chennai. It was backed up by another fluent 78 in Indore as India took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
His man of the series award comes with a reward of Rs. 2.5 lakhs.
After Sunday's seven-wicket win in Nagpur, skipper Virat Kohli hailed Pandya as the "biggest asset" for the squad in the post-match presentation.
"Hardik Pandya is the biggest asset (from the series). Selection dilemma is always a good headache for me as a captain because it's always better to have plenty to pick from and take the best 11 possible," Kohli said.
Last month, legendary Kapil Dev, who is arguably India's best ever all-rounder, said that Pandya is better than him.
"Hardik Pandya is better than me. But he has to do a lot of hard work," Kapil said at a press conference.
Pandya has so far played three Tests, 26 ODIs and 19 T20Is. He has scored 178 runs in Tests, 530 in ODIs and 100 in T20Is. He also has 4 wickets in Tests, 29 in ODIs and 15 in T20Is.
