I am a proper batsman not a pinch-hitter: Pandya

Pandya, who stroked a quick-fire 18ball 31 in India’s win in the Asia Cup opener against Bangladesh last night, said hitting sixes has always given him joy and his natural instinct to smack the ball hard. “I don’t really know how and where I got my big hitting capabilities from. But, right from my childhood days, it was a habit for me to hit big sixes. I always had this urge to send the ball out of the boundary be it any tournament. “Even when I was 16 or 17 and finding my way into competitive cricket, hitting sixes was something that I always wanted to do. Even at that age, I would back myself and follow my instincts. If I would feel that I have to hit the first ball for a six, I would go for it. That is the way I  have played and that is the way I play even now. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but that is the way it goes.” Pandya said he has no role models but he does admire the big-hitters like South African AB de Villiers and his captain Dhoni.  “I have never had a role model when it comes to hitting sixes but I just look at great players like our captain MS Dhoni and AB de Villiers and other big hitters in the world,” he said.