The captain of the Indian cricket team, along with head coach Rahul Dravid and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar, met last week in Mumbai to discuss the T20 World Cup squad of India. The main agenda of this long meeting in the middle of IPL 2024 was the place of Hardik Pandya in the World Cup squad. Although there is still some time left before the selectors are going to pick the final 15 of India for the World Cup event, which is going to be held in the USA and West Indies right after the finish of Indian Premier League edition 17, the management of Team India is concerned about the bowling fitness of Hardik.
The newly appointed captain of Mumbai Indians, Hardik Pandya, is under immense pressure both on and off the field, and even his performance has been below par in this season of the IPL till now. Except for the innings that he played against Royal Challengers Bangalore, where he scored 21 runs in six balls, everyone is raising questions over his approach in the middle overs, where he has failed to score at the desired strike rate.
However, Rohit, Rahul, and Ajit are more concerned about his bowling because there are many players in the current setup of Team India who can perform the batting role of Pandya very well in T20, but there are not many players who can assure four overs as a third seamer of the team. That is where Pandya is unique and adds balance to the playing 11.
But in the current season of the Indian Premier League, Pandya has been performing below par with the ball. He is lacking consistency and clarity, and even though he has bowled his full quota of bowling only twice in the first two matches of the Mumbai Indians against the Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad, till now he has not bowled a single over against the Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals. Once again, he got the ball in his hands against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, but only for one over in the last match of the Mumbai Indians against Chennai Super Kings. Pandya bowled for three hours but was smashed for three back-to-back sixes by Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the last over.
According to the reports, the selectors are only going to consider Pandya for the T20 World Cup if he bowls well regularly in the IPL. With an extra bowler always at his disposal in the IPL due to the impact player rule, it can be a bit too much to expect 4 overs from Pandya in every match.
