"Time has come for Hardik Pandya to get ready and start doing what he does" - Rohit Sharma
India’s limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma has asserted that all-rounder Hardik Pandya is fit and raring to perform in the upcoming T20Is against England.
Hardik Pandya was part of the Indian team for the four-match Test series against England. However, he did not get a single game as India preferred to go in with spin bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar.
Speaking to the media at a virtual press conference ahead of the T20I series, Rohit said that Hardik Pandya is ready to deliver what is expected of him.
Asked if the all-rounder would find a place in the playing XI for the first game to be held on March 12 in Ahmedabad, Rohit replied:
“I can’t reveal whether who starts or who doesn’t start.”
He, however, added that Hardik Pandya has been working very hard on his skills over the past month. Rohit said:
“He has been in the squad, and he is an integral part of the squad. He has been working on his bowling, he has been working on his batting. The particular skill sets that he has, he has been trying to sharpen those as well. It has been a good month and a half that he has been with the team. He has done pretty much everything needed to be ready for this limited-overs series. It seems the time has come for him to get ready and start doing what he does. You’ll see that on the 12th. So I hope what the team expects him to do, he is ready to do that.”
Hardik Pandya was highly impressive in the limited-overs matches in Australia. However, he was not retained for the Test matches due to his inability to bowl owing to his back problems.
The all-rounder underwent surgery in 2019 and has been tending to his back since.
Has Hardik Pandya tweaked his bowling action?
On Tuesday, Hardik Pandya posted a video of his training session on his Twitter account. While the clip mostly shows him batting, in the last 10 seconds of the footage, he is seen bowling with what looks like a tweaked action.
According to former India opener Devang Gandhi, the 27-year-old seems to have made a slight change to his action to try and reduce the chances of him picking up another injury. On Hardik Pandya’s new bowling action, Gandhi told PTI:
"It seems that he has reduced the length of his jump and in turn the stride is shorter. If you have a big jump, automatically, your stride will be longer and there will be more pounding on landing."
Hardik Pandya has featured in 43 T20Is and 57 ODIs and has been an integral part of India’s limited-overs outfits, providing balance to the team with his versatile all-round skills.