"I miss him, India need him too at the World Cup"- MI bowling coach Shane Bond on Hardik Pandya's IPL 2022
Mumbai Indians (MI) bowling coach Shane Bond was impressed with Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Hardik Pandya's leadership skills in the IPL 2022 season. The 28-year-old led by example with both bat and ball to help his new team bag their maiden IPL title in their first attempt.
Shane Bond understands the quality that Pandya brought to the table when he was with MI, and feels that the five-time champions would have benefited from keeping hold of him. He also stressed that Team India need such a player for the T20 World Cup due to his leadership traits.
Speaking in an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, here's what Shane Bond had to say about Hardik Pandya:
"Hardik is a pretty cool captain. He came in the IPL to Mumbai in my first season so we spent a lot of time together. It was probably a foreign role for him to step up as a leader for a different franchise but he did a great job. From my perspective, I miss him. It would have been nice to have in around in our team because he is a quality player. India need him too for the World Cup because he showed what a quality player he is and also what a good leader he is."
Papa ko pace pasand hai!💥
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I would have Umran Malik in my World Cup squad: Shane Bond
Shane Bond believes SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) speedster Umran Malik deserves a place in India's T20 World Cup squad. The 22-year-old received his maiden India call-up after a fantastic performance in the IPL 2022 season.
Malik picked up 22 wickets in 14 games and terrorized the batters with his searing pace. On this, Bond stated:
"I would have him (Umran) in my (World Cup) squad. He bowled well against us. The thing about pace is that when you get wickets it is challenging for new players to score against it. He still needs to work on his control."
Shane Bond reckons Malik can also be a red-ball prospect for India, if he works on getting lateral movement along with his pace. He added:
"If you have a guy who delivers 3-4 match-winning performances in a season, he will just get better as he plays. He needs to move the ball to play longer formats because it is difficult to sustain that pace for 50 overs or for the course of the Test."
The upcoming T20I series against South Africa will be crucial for Malik as a few good performances can fast-track him into that T20 World Cup squad.