Mumbai Indians bowling coach Shane Bond was impressed with Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya’s leadership in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season. The all-rounder led his team to the championship title in their debut season this year.
Hardik Pandya played a key role and led the team from the front in the tournament. He was the leading run-scorer for his side, scoring 487 runs in fifteen matches, at an average of 44.27. In the finals, Hardik took 3/17 and scored valuable 34 runs to help his team win the title.
Shane Bond worked with Hardik Pandya when the all-rounder was in the Mumbai Indians squad. In a conversation with Sportskeeda, Shane Bond expressed that he missed Hardik Pandya this season. He added that the Indian team needs a leader like him in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2022.
“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,” said Shane Bond.
Papa ko pace pasand hai!💥#SeasonOfFirsts #AavaDe pic.twitter.com/ugIzoKzNEj
— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) June 2, 2022
Would have Umran Malik in my World Cup squad – Shane Bond
Shane Bond was also all praise for Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer Umran Malik. The speedster picked 22 wickets in fourteen matches, troubling the batters with his fiery pacer. Umran earned a maiden India call-up for the series against South Africa after his brilliant IPL performance.
Bond expressed that the young speedster deserves a place in India’s T20 World Cup 2022 squad. He 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.”
“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,” added Shane Bond.
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