The Indian captain, coach and chief selector of the team are having migraines over Hardik Pandya’s form with the ball.
Mumbai: We are a fortnight away from the announcement of India’s T20 World Cup squad. Ahead of the big announcement, the captain, coach and selector of the Indian team are having migraines over Hardik Pandya’s form with the ball. As per a report on Sportskeeda, captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Rahul Dravid, and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar have reportedly decided that all-rounder Hardik needs to bowl regularly in IPL 2024 to earn a call-up for the upcoming T20 World Cup. So, now it is going to be interesting to see he bowls or not in the upcoming games of MI in the ongoing season of the IPL.
Hardik’s form with the ball has not been upto the mark. The MI captain conceded 43 runs in three overs against Chennai Super Kings at Wankhede recently. He bowled the final over in which he conceded three consecutive sixes to MS Dhoni. Eventually, those 20 runs scored by Dhoni off Hardik proved to be the difference between the two sides.
With Hardik’s form a concern, there are talks that Shivam Dube could be considered for a spot in the T20 WC side. Dube can take on the spinners and also bowl medium pace if needed.
India’s Predicted Squad:
Rohit Sharma (C), Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill/Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jitesh Sharma/Sanju Samson (WK), Ravi Bishnoi
The T20 WC in the USA and West Indies start on June 2 with hosts USA playing the curtain-raiser versus Canada.