'He's got much more talent than...' - Former NZ batter's bold comparison between Hardik Pandya and Ben Stokes

Hardik Pandya has been a consistent player for India in recent times. Keeping his injury aside, Pandya has given his best in almost all the games he has participated in. Be it the World Cup or regular series, he's proven his worth as the best all-rounder in the Indian team. However, Suryakumar Yadav was chosen over Pandya for captaincy in T20Is as the selectors wanted more stability.

There were a lot of former players who showed resentment towards this decision. Talking about this, former New Zealand player Scott Styris compared Pandya to England's Ben Stokes and said that the Indian all-rounder is more talented. Styris praised Pandya for the kind of skillset he has and how he maintains his performance in every match which is incredible. 

"This champion all-rounder (Pandya) has got as many skills as anyone. He's probably in a similar ability-zone as someone like Ben Stokes. He's got much more talent than that (his recent performances). He is a phenomenally skilled cricketer. But he hasn't quite shown it yet as consistently enough for my liking. So, just let him get out there and just say, you've got to lead us now by your performance," said Scott Styris. 

I'm a huge fan of Axar Patel: Scott Styris

Former New Zealand star batter Scott Styris revealed that he's a huge fan of Indian spinner Axar Patel. As per Styris, Patel is a reliable player who has the ability to take his team out of dangerous situations. In the T20 World Cup, Axar not only showed his bowling but batting skills as well. The way he handled the pressure batting up the order was commendable. 

"I'm a huge fan of Axar Patel. I picked him in my World Cup squad (of India) during the IPL. He's one of those players who always gets in the fight, always gets in the contest. His bad games are pretty good and you can rely on him. That's why we often see him floating up and down the order," said Scott Styris as quoted by NDTV Sports.