All eyes were on the flamboyant all-rounder, Hardik Pandya after Mumbai Indians coach Mahela Jayawardene declared that he will not bowl in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 anymore to preserve his batting. As MI locked horns with Delhi Capitals (DC), BCCI kept a close watch on his form ahead of the T20 World Cup.

Ahead of the game against DC, Hardik Pandya had said, “I am happy with my batting form and it’s nice to contribute to the team’s win. My plans are simple, just play ball-by-ball and stay ahead of the game. To be honest, we don’t have any options, but these situations do bring the best out of individuals. We are looking at one game at a time and control the controllables. (On bowling) Think I will start shortly.”

MI’s head coach Mahela Jayawardene declared that ‘Hardik will not bowl in IPL 2021′ and his comment hasn’t been received well by the BCCI and the Indian team selectors right before T20 World Cup. As per the reports in InsideSport.co, BCCI officials seem unhappy with  Hardik not being fully fit has made the BCCI worried now ahead of the T20 World Cup.

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Describing the same, as per the quotes in Insidesport, the BCCI official said, “It’s not ideal. We would have liked for him to bowl in competitive matches. It’s unfortunate as he is a key player in the T20 World Cup. He is undergoing some fitness issues. But hopefully, he will be okay by the Pakistan match. It’s good that he is bowling in the nets. We will be monitoring the situation regarding him.”

While Hardik Pandya could be okay to bowl 2-3 overs in the T20 World Cup matches, but the fact that he has bowled just 42 overs in the whole of 2021, creates a big issue for the selectors. Take into account that he hasn’t batted long enough, it hasn’t impressed selectors one bit ahead of an important marquee event that India are chasing for 14 years. However, that’s not the sole problem for Team India and skipper Virat Kohli.

Despite the lack of justifying reasons behind selecting him, a BCCI source said there are no plans to drop him in favor of Deepak Chahar or Shardul Thakur. They believe the two CSK pacers are not ready to replace the all-rounder, especially in a tournament like T20 World Cup.

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Describing the same, one of the souces of InsiderSports in BCCI said, “There is no question of replacing Hardik at this stage. Shardul or Deepak are not ready to take on the role. We have to develop backup in future. But now, it’s not the time.”