India’s pace bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya bowled on one of the side pitches at Chennai’s M. A. Chidambaram Stadium ahead of the third day’s play in the 2nd Test between India and England on Sunday.
According to a report in Sportstar, Hardik Pandya bowled for around 30 minutes and looked in good rhythm as bowling coach Bharat Arun watched from the sidelines. The all-rounder also batted in the nets against the pink ball following bowling practice as the next 3rd Test will be a day-night affair.
Hardik Pandya Hasn’t Bowled Much Following Back Surgery In 2019
The third Test between the two teams India and England will be a day-night encounter at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad. Except for the one ODI in Australia where Hardik Pandya bowled 4 overs, he hasn’t bowled much following his back surgery in 2019. Regular captain Virat Kohli explained that the 27-year-old needed to bowl to fit into the Test squad as he wasn’t selected for 4 Tests in Australia.
Hardik Pandya was arguably one of India’s standout performers in the limited-overs leg against Australia. He hit 2 scores in the 90s in India’s otherwise poor performance in the ODIs where the team suffered a 2-1 loss.
In the subsequent T20Is that followed, he scored 78 runs in three innings at an average of 39 and at a strike-rate of 156.00 which helped India chase down targets when odds were stacked against the team.
Jasprit Bumrah Bowled With Shorter Run-up And Batted With Shardul Thakur
Meanwhile, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who has been rested for the second Test, bowled a few deliveries from a shorter run-up. He also batted in the nets along with Shardul Thakur. Lower-order batting has been a massive concern for Team India as the tail hasn’t contributed much of note over the last few seasons.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Shami resumed training at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru as he has recovered ‘significantly’ from a wrist fracture that ruled him out of the first 2 Tests of the ongoing 4-match Test series against England and saw him missing the last three Tests against Australia.
The combined number for the Indian bowlers (Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, T Natarajan, and Washington Sundar) was only 9 Tests yet India won the crucial Brisbane 4th Test against Australia to win the series but India is down 0-1 after losing the first Test against England by 227 runs in Chennai.