Former Australia opener Matthew Hayden rates his countryman Marcus Stoinis above India all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
However, he praised India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and predicted that the Haryana bowler will come out on top in his expected middle-overs battle against the hard-hitting Glenn Maxwell.
The India-Australia series, comprising two Twenty20 Internationals and five one-day Internationals, starts on February 24.
“Marcus Stoinis is developing into a world-class all-rounder. He is unlucky not to be playing a little bit more Test cricket,” Hayden was quoted as saying by PTI. “He has quality in his play, although Hardik is also a fine player.
“Stoinis has adopted a wider approach to his game which is winning matches for his country. Hardik Pandya also has the same responsibility, but I think right now Stoinis is a better player.”
Hayden also feels that fast bowler Pat Cummins was likely to trouble India opener Shikhar Dhawan in the upcoming limited-overs series.
“Pat Cummins will have the hold on Shikhar Dhawan. Dhawan loves pace and I think Pat holds the armoury with short ball, reverse swing and the variation with slow balls.
“I think Patty will be the baby-sitter,” said Hayden.
On the Chahal versus Maxwell duel, Hayden said: “Maxwell is a player who has struggled when playing in Indian conditions. His IPL performances have not been quite impactful.
“In the perspective of ODIs and Test matches Maxwell has achieved one excellent 100. But Chahal is developing into a world-class spinner and possesses plenty of variation.
“Maxwell often comes in through the middle stages where he will really need to pump up the pace and Chahal has got variation, so I will get Chahal to babysit,” he said.
The 28-year-old has picked up 45 wickets from 29 T20s and also has 71 ODI wickets from 40 games.
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