India Vs New Zealand: Kane Williamson finds Hardik Pandya's rise a big positive for Team India

Mumbai, Oct 16: New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson is impressed with the emergence of young India all-rounder Hardik Pandya and feels he has brought balance to the side.

"He's a very vital player for the Indian side in terms of a fast bowling all-rounder that I suppose in these conditions, it accommodates the spinners so much, but to have a fast bowling all-rounder that bowls good pace and hits it out of the park is always exciting to have," said Williamson ahead of the limited-overs series against the hosts.

"Certainly in the last year or two, he's been playing outstandingly well. We saw it in the IPL. And even in the series against us, he bowled very well. Now, we're seeing him come along with the bat and making contributions that any team would be pretty happy to have from their all-rounder," added Williamson.

The two teams will lock horns in three-match ODI series and as many T20 Internationals.

The 24-year-old Baroda cricketer was the biggest positive for the team and his role in recently concluded limited-overs games against Australia that India won 4-1 was a testament to the same. Pandya scored 222 runs at just over 55 per innings with 83 as his highest score, besides taking six wickets with his brisk medium pace.

Incidentally, Pandya made his ODI debut against the Kiwis at Dharamsala when they visited last year and his career graph has been on an upswing since then.

Skipper Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri are pleased to have a match-winner like him who is maturing with every passing series.

His performance against Australia has impressed former captain Ian Chappell so much that he wrote in his newspaper column that Pandya "is potentially the fast-bowling allrounder India have craved since Kapil Dev retired."

The Kiwis will begin the tour with two practice games at the Cricket Club of India here on October 17 and 19 before clashing with the Men In Blue into the ODI series with the first game commencing at the Wankhede Stadium on October 22.

They will play three T20Is after the conclusion of the ODI series, with the last one scheduled for November 7 at Thiruvananthapuram.

(With inputs from PTI)