After MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya has great opportunity to be the next global star, says former England captain Michael Vaughan

India all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been receiving praise for his spectacular batting in the second T20I against Australia in Sydney. Pandya struck a match-winning unbeaten 22-ball 42 as India chased 194 runs to win with six wickets to spare.

India needed 25 of the final 12 balls, and after securing 12 runs in the 18th over, Pandya brought the equation down to 14 in the last over. He then hit two sixes to seal the victory.

Michael Vaughan said that Pandya has a fair opportunity to take over Indian skipper Virat Kohli as the "next global superstar".

File image of former England captain Michael Vaughan. Reuters

"He has to look at the next three years. With the next T20 world cup being in India, obviously, the IPL being in India, the next 50-over World Cup is in India in 2023, Hardik Pandya has got a great opportunity to become the next global superstar,” Vaughan told Cricbuzz in a video.

Australian head coach Justin Langer was also impressed with Hardik Pandya's batting in the second Twenty20. In the post-match press conference, Langer said that Pandya was an incredible spectacle of a game.

"We know how dangerous he (Pandya) is. In the past, we had MS Dhoni and the way he (Pandya) played today… He has played really well all summer so, obviously, it was a great innings in the end there,” the coach said.

Pandya had on Sunday said that he had worked on gaining mastery over "finishing games when it mattered the most" during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, the Indian cricketer said, "During lockdown, I wanted to focus on finishing games where it matters the most. It doesn't matter whether I score or don't score more runs."

Pandya said he had been in these situations many times and has learned from his mistakes in the past.