Slowly gaining fitness, pace all-rounder Hardik Pandya should be able to bowl in the T20 World Cup along with the second leg of the Indian Premier League.IPL) 2021, which begins next month, serves as a measure of their fitness for the multi-nation tournament, said Paras Mhambrey, who was India’s bowling coach during the limited-overs series in Sri Lanka.
Mhambrey said it is important to manage Pandya’s workload in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup to be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during October-November, immediately after the IPL.
“With Hardik, we are obviously taking it slowly. I am not going to push him in terms of how many overs are bowled. A lot of watch is being kept on him as to how much we are going to push him. We have to build slowly. World Cup is coming. For us, it’s important to manage his bowling workload very well knowing he’s going to play a very important role for us,” said Mhambrey, who has served as India A’s bowling coach and bowling coach at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) where Pandya and other Indian bowlers are recovering.
“We know the batting he offers you. But if we add bowling to it, it brings a different dimension. That’s why we are working on it. Everyone – the strength and conditioning department and the physio – is in sync and we have discussed it,” Mhambrey told IANS.
The right-arm pacer, who has been troubled by a back injury for the past few years, has not been a part of India’s Test match set-up due to his inability to bowl.
Although he bowled in the recent bilateral limited-overs series in Sri Lanka in July, he could not meet his full quota in any game.
He bowled 14 overs in three ODIs – two wickets at an average of 48.5 and an economy rate of 6.92 – and two overs in one T20I.
Against England in March, he had bowled 17 overs in five T20 Internationals, taking three wickets and conceding 6.94 runs per over, the second best for both sides behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He could complete his quota of four overs in three out of five matches.
Pandya also bowled in the third and final ODI against England and was economical at 5.33 in nine overs.
But India will need him to deliver their full quota of overs in the entire T20 World Cup.
The 49-year-old former India pacer Mhambrey said that the Indian Premier League (IPL) will ultimately decide Pandya’s availability in the T20 World Cup. It will depend on the franchisee how to use the same.
He said, ‘Yes, the way I look at him and the way I feel, I am sure he will bowl [in IPL]. The first step is IPL. Maybe the franchisee decides how they will use it. It will thus decide how it will be a preparatory ground for the World Cup.”
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