With just around three days to go for the start of India’s campaign for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, the whole focus has been on how Hardik Pandya will manage himself for the tournament. The all-rounder’s batting in the lower order and bowling will be so vital for the inaugural champions of the tournament.
The recent few weeks hasn’t been quite good for Hardik Pandya as he has been dealing with issues on and off the cricket field. The way he has been treated in the recent Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 captaining the Mumbai Indians was so rough, he accepted boos from the fans around the venues, especially the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
There were already issues, as many sources reported, with the former Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma, as Pandya’s form went down in both the batting and bowling department.
Hardik Pandya’s injury could be a huge blow for India
The Mumbai Indians, under the leadership skills of Hardik Pandya, finished the IPL 2024 with the wooden spoon with only four victories in the 14 league games of the competition, as his form was nowhere near his average scale.
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Hardik finished with 11 wickets in 14 games in this IPL 2024, at an economy of 10.75, while he could drill only 216 runs with the bat at a strike rate f 143.05, and an average of 18.00.
Despite his poor form, the chief selector Ajit Agarkar and India captain Rohit Sharma decided to keep Hardik Pandya in the team, as the conditions in the Caribbean and the United States of America (USA) will be favorable for him.
The former left-arm pacer, Rudra Pratap Singh admits that the all-rounder doesn’t seem to be carrying any injury, given how he bowled his full quota of four overs, without any concern, which is a positive news for India.
‘Hardik Pandya bowled in the IPL and bowled four overs so there’s no injury scare. Hardik’s bowling will be important and he will have to bowl all his quota of 4-overs,” RP Singh, the member of India’s T20 World Cup 2007 winning team expressed in an interview.
As the tournament progressed, Hardik managed his bowling workload management to keep him fresh for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024. In 92 innings in the shortest format of the game, Pandya nailed up 1348 runs at a T20I average of 25.43 and a strike rate of nearly 140, besides smashing 69 over-boundaries.
When it comes to the bowling department, the Gujrat-born has picked up 73 wickets at an economy of 8.16, which is quite phenomenal.
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For the back-up option of the veteran, India have gone with Shivam Dube, which would be an added advantage for the last-year’s semifinalist, according to the pacer.
‘If Shivam Dube bowls too, then it will be an added advantage for India ahead.’ The former pacer observed. ‘Shivam may not play some matches initially but whenever he plays, he will perform well and score runs for India.’
It will be interesting to see how India use him during the warm-up fixture against Bangladesh on June 01, at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, in New York.