Sanjay Manjrekar, the former Indian cricketer turned commentator, has raised apprehensions about Hardik Pandya’s struggling performance as a bowler. Manjrekar emphasized that Pandya’s role as an all-rounder will be pivotal for India’s success in the forthcoming ODI World Cup.
Throughout India’s three-match ODI series and subsequent five-match T20I series against the West Indies, Hardik Pandya was the subject of interest. His performance, though, was inconsistent. In the ODI series, he only managed to reach one half-century and faced two low-scoring innings. His contribution in the T20Is amounted to 77 runs during four innings.
Hardik’s bowling effort in the ODI series was fairly poor as he just grabbed one wicket. He nevertheless managed to perform better throughout the T20Is, concluding with a total of four wickets.
Sanjay Manjrekar, the former Indian cricketer has highlighted legitimate concern about Hardik’s current bowling issues. Manjrekar emphasized that Hardik’s dual role as a bowler and batsman will be crucial for India to perform well in the 2023 ODI World Cup, which has been scheduled for October-November.
Manjrekar suggested that for India to put an end to their losing streak in ICC competitions by drawing a comparison to their 2011 World Cup success, where Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina played vital all-round contributions.
“Hardik Pandya’s form is a little bit of concern, his bowling because you will have to do a lot of physical work in the World Cup because you need him as the all-rounder not just a batter so at least 6-7 over per innings is what is expected from him. When India won the World Cup in 2011, it was because of people like Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh pure batters who bowled a bit, so Hardik Pandya’s bowling is very important,” Manjrekar said on an episode of “Follow the Blues” on Star Sports.
As the Asia Cup event is nearing, all eyes will be on Team India’s fearless all-rounder Hardik Pandya. The competition is scheduled to commence on August 30th, and in this edition, India, led by Rohit Sharma, finds itself in Group A. This group involves not only long-term rivals Pakistan but also includes newcomers Nepal.
