Hardik Pandya’s ability to bowl in the upcoming T20 World Cup has been the major food for thought as far as Team India are concerned in recent days. The all-rounder hasn’t been bowling regularly since his serious back injury in 2019 and the fact that he didn’t bowl a single over in the recently concluded IPL 2021 raises plenty of eyebrows.
Even in the toss ahead of the warm-up game against Australia, Rohit Sharma revealed that Pandya was still some time away from getting back to bowling regularly. Former Indian cricketer Deep Dasgupta feels that discussions regarding Pandya’s bowling should come to a momentary stop. He doesn’t want the team to pressurize the star all-rounder into bowling in the first couple of matches.
Hardik Pandya hasn’t even begun bowling in the nets and it is about time that the team focuses on identifying solutions instead of mulling over the problem. While speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, Dasgupta mentioned that the first two Super 12 matches against Pakistan and New Zealand will be extremely important for the Men in Blue. As such, they should not take their chances with a player who hasn’t even bowled frequently in the nets.
“I think we need to put a full stop on Hardik’s bowling discussion. He hasn’t bowled a single delivery, and we are talking about a World Cup. If you look at it from an Indian team point of view, the first two games are the utmost important. Because if you win those two, you are on the verge of qualifying with much difficulty.
“And in those two matches, you won’t take many chances with a bowler who hasn’t bowled in the nets as well. So 5 bowlers along with Virat with his few overs, it is a good chance to atleast toy around with this idea,” the 44-year-old said.
With Pandya’s unavailability, the team management have to put on their thinking caps and try to come up with a solution to gather an extra bowling option. Team captain Virat Kohli, usually known for his heroics with the bat, rolled up his sleeves and sent down a couple of overs against Australia in the warm-up game. Dasgupta thinks it might not be a bad idea to let Kohli bowl a couple of overs.
“Ashwin and Jadeja bowled really well in the powerplay. We do know that India will head into their games with only 5 main bowlers. But Virat bowled a couple of overs today, and to be fair, it’s not a bad decision.
“Because almost every match will be played in a big ground – Abu Dhabi and Dubai. If Virat can bowl two overs in every game, it can be a good option,” Dasgupta added.
