With the advent of T20 cricket, the longer format game is fighting hard for its survival. While Test cricket has seen a revival of late, it is the ODI format that finds itself under threat. Amid ongoing discussions about the future of the 50-over format, former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja feels Hardik Pandya’s aggressive captaincy style will bring back fans’ interest in the format. Notably, Hardik led India in an ODI during a match against Australia in Mumbai on Friday. The host team won the match by 5 wickets.

“Whenever you see Hardik Pandya play, he plays differently. Not just playing, watch him walk around in the afternoon, he has a different vibe. He’s always aggressive, so when you look at the playing XI Let’s see who the bowlers were.” , Shami, Siraj, good day or bad day for him, he is different. Then he has Kuldeep, then he himself bowls aggressively. Jadeja is a defensive bowler but not really defensive. His mindset is aggressive so does not captain’ there is no tension in the game. Everyone has their own way, some succeed, some don’t,” said Ajay Jadeja on Cricbuzz.

“If you see Kane Williamson, if he was away that day in the run out, people would say, why did he take it so close. That is his style of play. Similarly, MS Dhoni also had a style, so it It’s Hardik Pandya’s style. It’s an aggressive style, it won’t bore you. It will bring back your interest in ODI cricket”, he said.

Hardik will not captain the Indian team in the second ODI as regular skipper Rohit Sharma will return to the role. He missed the first game due to family commitments.