Virender Sehwag has slammed and questioned the team management’s decision to not give Hardik Pandya even an over despite other bowlers leaking plenty of runs. Virat Kohli-led India didn’t use Hardik Pandya as a bowler in the 2nd ODI against England.
Ever since Hardik Pandya returned to competitive international cricket, post his back surgery, he hasn’t bowled much to not risk aggravating his lower back pain. While he didn’t bowl at all for the Mumbai Indians (MI) team in IPL 2020, he also refrained from bowling in the Australia tour’s limited-overs leg, apart from bowling four overs in the second and penultimate ODI.
Virender Sehwag: Fielding For 50 Overs Can Also Cause Fatigue So Bowling 4-5 Overs Won’t Affect His Workload
Nonetheless, Hardik Pandya was bowling at his best in the five T20Is between India and England prior to the ongoing three ODIs. However, the Virat Kohli-led team management hasn’t used him as a sixth-bowling option in the ongoing ODI series.
Despite all the Indian bowlers, barring Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Prasidh Krishna to some extent, going for plenty in India’s 337-run defense in the second ODI versus England in Pune, on Friday (March 26), Hardik Pandya wasn’t even used as an option.
At the post-match presentation, Virat Kohli stated on Hardik, “We need to manage his (Hardik) body. Need to understand where we need this skill set. Did utilize him in the T20Is but in the ODIs, it’s about managing his workload. We have Test cricket in England coming up too. So it’s important for us to have him fit.”
However, former Indian opener-turned-commentator Virender Sehwag slammed and even questioned Virat Kohli & team management for their decision to not use Hardik Pandya as a bowling option.
Virender Sehwag said on Cricbuzz Live, “But India isn’t playing any cricket in the next few months! We only have the IPL next. So you are saying that we have no problem losing the ODI series because we had to manage Hardik Pandya’s workload. If his workload doesn’t include 4-5 overs then it’s wrong. “
“He is trying to say that India is trying to manage the workload of every bowler and the same is for Hardik Pandya. But it also shouldn’t be the case that he isn’t bowling even a single over. Fielding for 50 overs also causes fatigue. So if he adds 4-5 overs to it, it shouldn’t make a huge difference on his workload,” said Virender Sehwag.
He added, “I don’t know who decides that Hardik Pandya’s workload has become excessive. Since he has come back from his [back] surgery, he hasn’t played much cricket. He sat out in the Tests, played the 5 T20Is, and bowled in 2-3 of those… so he hasn’t taken any load yet,” said Virender Sehwag.
“I can understand if he is playing constantly and is playing every format but at the moment he has only bowled 4-4 overs in 3-4 T20I games. But yes, this is a possibility that he himself might have asked for a break from bowling in the ODIs to prevent any injuries before the IPL,” said Virender Sehwag.
Many other former cricketers such as VVS Laxman and Aakash Chopra also expressed their views on the subject.
India May Change Team Combination In The Series Deciding 3rd ODI
Given the carnage from the English batters especially Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes in the second and penultimate ODI, Virat Kohli-led India might be tempted to add another bowler from the bench at the expense of a batsman as Hardik Pandya is unlikely to bowl even in the series decider on Sunday (March 28). England chased down 337, for the loss of 4 wickets, with more than six overs to spare to level the series on Friday evening.
The likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Shubman Gill, T Natarajan, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Washington Sundar didn’t play any of the 2 ODIs and any of them may feature in the next series-deciding ODI at the expense of struggling out of form Kuldeep Yadav or an inexperienced Krunal Pandya. Shreyas Iyer has already been ruled out.
Suryakumar Yadav did not get a chance to bat in his debut T20I but got the chance to bat in the fourth T20I and went on to play a knock of 57 runs from 31 deliveries before scoring a rapid 32 off 17 balls in the series decider T20I and was inducted in the ODI squad.