Hardik Pandya Not Bowling In IPL 2021 Is A Big Blow For Mumbai Indians And India: Sunil Gavaskar
Oct 6, 2021 at 6:10 PM
Sunil Gavaskar feels that swashbuckling all-rounder Hardik Pandya not bowling in the ongoing IPL is a “big blow” for not just Mumbai Indians but also the T20 World Cup-bound Indian team. The Indian selectors have named all-rounder Hardik Pandya in the forthcoming T20 World Cup squad, but the Baroda all-rounder has not been bowling for Mumbai Indians, two years after undergoing back surgery in the UK.
Sunil Gavaskar: Hardik Pandya Not Bowling In IPL 2021 Is A Big Blow For Mumbai Indians And India
After missing out on a lot of action owing to a back injury, Hardik Pandya made a phenomenal comeback in the IPL 2020 season, playing the finisher role for the team and hammering the ball in the slog overs at a strike rate of 178. But both his average and strike rate have dipped this season. He has managed only 117 runs from 11 games at a strike rate of 112.5 and an average of 14.62 with unbeaten 40 his highest score.
“Hardik Pandya, not bowling is a big blow, not just for Mumbai Indians, but for India as well, because he was taken in the team as an all-rounder. And if you are in the team, batting at No.6 or No.7, and you’re not able to bowl, then it makes it difficult for the captain. He doesn’t get the flexibility and option that is so required for somebody batting at No.6 or 7 like an all-rounder,” said Sunil Gavaskar.
The batting great said the Mumbai Indians duo of Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan “have just relaxed a little bit” in the IPL after getting picked for the Indian team.
“I think it looks to me like Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan have just relaxed a little bit after getting the India cap,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports show ‘Cricket Connected’.
“They might not have, but some of the shots they are playing – it looks like they are trying to play these big shots just because they are India players,” said Sunil Gavaskar.
Both Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan have been horribly out of form in the UAE leg of the lucrative league.
Sunil Gavaskar: Shot Selection Of Mumbai Indians Batsmen Weren’t Correct
Suryakumar Yadav made his international T20 debut against England in March earlier this year and played his first ODI against Sri Lanka at Colombo in July. Ishan Kishan, an explosive top-order batsman, and a wicketkeeper has managed just 157 runs from the nine IPL games he has played this season. According to former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, who has 10,122 Test runs, it is important to get the short selection right.
“Sometimes what happens is, you gotta give yourself a little bit of time, and you have got to get your shot selection right. I think that is where they have missed this time around, where their shot selection has not been exactly correct, and that’s why they’ve got out cheaply,” added Sunil Gavaskar while speaking about why Mumbai Indians players might be out of form.
Ishan Kishan was the top run-getter for Mumbai Indians in the 2020 season, scoring 516 runs at an average of 57.33, and later went on to make his T20I and ODI debut where he scored the fifties. But in IPL 2021, he has only 157 runs to his name in 9 games averaging only 19.62 so far after registering an unbeaten 50 against Rajasthan.
Suryakumar Yadav excelled in his role as an opener and scored over 500 runs in 2018, including four fifties. In IPL 2019, he amassed 424 runs to be MI’s second-highest run-getter. He outperformed himself in the 2020 season scoring 480 runs at a strike rate of 145 and went on to make his T20 International debut later for India. Suryakumar Yadav has so far 235 runs in 13 IPL games in IPL 2021 averaging a below-par 18.07.