One of the supreme all-rounders of this generation, Hardik Pandya is going through a shoulder niggle and must be fully recovered to bowl in the next few weeks. According to Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayewardene, they do not want to rush things and put him at risk with important series lined up.
His lower-back issues have kept him away from bowling over the last few years. Before taking up the job with the ball against Australia in the second One Day International in November 2020, he had bowled during the 2019 ICC World Cup.
We don’t want to risk with Hardik Pandya – Mahela Jayawardene
Only during the T20 series against England in March, he made his comeback as a bowler and continued the action only in one of the three ODI against England in Pune. In 2020 IPL he had continued his role of a specialist batter. Mahela Jayawardene stated that they don’t want to risk Hardik Pandya and want to ensure that he resumes bowling once he is completely fit.
“We were obviously looking forward to him to be bowling this series as last season he was coming back from injury,” Jayawardene said in a press interaction. “But after the ODIs against England, I believe he picked up a niggle. So that’s something we are nursing at the moment. We don’t want to risk it because we must make sure that he is completely in a position to come in and bowl,” he added.
However, Mahela Jayawardene said that Hardik Pandya might resume bowling in the upcoming weeks. Pandya joining the other bowlers will be a massive boost to the franchise, who are keen to defend their title for the 2nd time. Currently, Mumbai Indians are using Kieron Pollard as the sixth bowler and the all-rounder is displaying his speciality with the bat.
“Hopefully in the next few weeks, with work and all that, you might see him bowl. It’s not like we are deliberately trying not to bowl him. We would love to have him bowling but as soon as the niggle cools off and he is comfortable we should be able to utilise that asset as well,” Jayawardene added.