The balance of the Indian team for the T20 World Cup has come to the main front for discussion again with Hardik Pandya’s fitness being a cause for concern. The star all-rounder from Baroda hasn’t bowled regularly since his back surgery in 2019.
Although Pandya did pull up his sleeves and bowl a bit during the white-ball series against England earlier this year, he did not bowl a single over in IPL 2021 to the surprise of many people. As a result, India will go into the World Cup with only five main bowling options and the team management is struggling to identify a sixth bowler.
We saw Virat Kohli bowl two overs of medium pace in the warm-up game against Australia. The likes of Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav might also be called in to bowl if needed but this is a problem that Team India needs to address.
While discussing India’s bowling lineup on his Youtube channel, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra pointed out that too many overs of Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli in the middle might give the opponents a chance to take control of the game.
“When you are playing with five bowlers, Jaddu bowls in the middle overs – after the 6th and before the 14th – now if he is also going to bowl in that and you want to get an over from Kohli as well, I feel you will get stuck.”
He also went on to add that Hardik Pandya’s inability to bowl could prove to be a hindrance for the side as Pandya offered a lot of balance. “Team India’s balance is slightly awry, let’s be honest. If Hardik is not bowling, the Indian team is pegged back a little. Jadeja, the 4-over bowler in T20 cricket, is still a bit of a question mark,” said Chopra.
The cricketer-turned-commentator was also critical of the way Team India used Varun Chakravarthy in the warm-up game against Australia. He feels that the lack of enough international experience might be worrying if India goes on to field Chakravarthy in the opening game against Pakistan.
“I feel Varun Chakravarthy should have been used better because if you don’t do that, you will get found out. You are thinking of hiding him and I am saying to give him some confidence because he has not played international cricket.
“If someone hasn’t played international cricket and you get him to play an India-Pakistan match straightaway, he becomes nervous. I am slightly concerned about Varun Chakravarthy,” he concluded.
