Phenomenal Hardik Pandya Can Be A Massive Asset 'If Someone Works On His Mind': Yurvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh has hailed Hardik Pandya as a "phenomenal" talent who "can be a massive asset" for the Indian national cricket team. But the former India all-rounder's praise comes with a condition. (More Cricket News)

"I feel Hardik is someone who has got amazing talent, phenomenal talent. But probably someone needs to work with his head, where his head is, he is such a hard working guy, he is a nice guy," Yuvraj said on Sportscreen's YouTube page.

Pandya, 26, is already a star in the world cricket. After making his India debut in an ODI against New Zealand at Dharamsala in October 2016, Pandya has emerged as one of the leading all-rounders in the game.

"He hits the ball spectacularly," Yuvraj said. "I was at Mumbai Indians last year and he got 90 odd off 30 balls [91 off 34 against KKR], it was a phenomenal innings. He can actually be the next big allrounder for India, but he hasn't performed at crunch times," Yuvraj added.

And he explained the reason.

"Those performances haven't come because he is a big hitter and he likes those big hits, but when he starts to know when to take a single and a double, and when to hit those big sixes, then he will actually work as a better player. So Hardik has massive potential to be a world class player. If someone works on his mind, he can be a massive asset till we get to the next World Cup."

Yuvraj, who helped played starring roles in India's triumphant campaigns in the 2007 World T20 and 2011 ODI World Cup, has been saying that the Indian team needs a psychologist who can take care of the mental side of players, especially precocious talents like Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, etc.

"I feel the current players don't have anyone to speak about the mental side of the game to. We have guys like Rishabh Pant, guys like Prithvi Shaw, they are so talented, and obviously unfortunately there's intense scrutiny these days because of the number of media outlets - one game you fail, you feel like you've failed the series.

"So, there's nobody to talk to them about the mental side - what's going on? How can we get better? Or probably don't do this or do that. Share your experiences. I've been saying for a while, the team needs a good psychologist. But it should be someone the players respect. That's important because there are a lot of young players, and younger players, as when we are growing up, we feel we know more than our parents and coaches," Yuvraj added.