At a time when the Indian fans had nothing to cheer about, with the bowlers being smashed for cleaners by Australia in the ongoing second ODI, the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli’s decision to give the bowl to Hardik Pandya must have cheered the fans up. The all-rounder finally resumed his bowling in the match at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Sunday.
Hardik opted not to bowl earlier citing the back issue. He had missed the better part of the second half of 2019 as he went under the knife owing to his back injury. Pandya returned to action in a high-profile tournament during IPL 2020 but did not bowl at all for Mumbai Indians. The fast bowler did not bowl in the first ODI against Australia either despite India being in desperate need of a sixth bowling option.
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However, Hardik Pandya proved his worth with the bat in the first game by scoring 90 although India lost the game by 66 runs. Following the game, the flamboyant all-rounder stated that he was not willing to rush his return to bowling and run the risk of exhausting himself. Hardik Pandya stated that he is preparing himself for the upcoming T20 World Cups as he said he was looking at long-term goals.
Talking about the same after the first ODI, “I am looking at a long-term goal where I want to be 100% of my bowling capacity for the most important games. The World Cups are coming. More crucial series are coming. I am thinking as a long-term plan, not short-term where I exhaust myself and maybe have something else [injury] which is not there. I can’t tell you exactly when I am going to bowl but the process is going on.”
Just a couple of days after saying that he was not sure about the resumption of his bowling, Hardik Pandya came out to bowl for his team. With India’s main bowlers getting tonked, Kohli was desperately looking at other options. He gave one over to opener Mayank Agarwal before Pandya decided to take the ball, leaving the Indian fans in the stands delighted. Interestingly, Pandya did extremely well compared to the other bowlers and returned with the figures of 1/24 in his four overs.
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Hardik also scalped a crucial wicket of Steve Smith as well, however, clearly didn’t look fully fit bowl at full tilt. Most of the fans were pleasantly surprised to see the all-rounder rolling his arms while some were also apprehensive that he might pick the injury again.
Here are some of the reactions:
Switch on your TV sets. Hardik Pandya is bowling!
🇦🇺 – 230/2 (35)#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #AUSvIND
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) November 29, 2020
Hardik Pandya bowling for the first time in 16 months. pic.twitter.com/EN7SSdeB3e
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) November 29, 2020
Hardik Pandya is finally bowling.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) November 29, 2020
Hardik Pandya bowling. pic.twitter.com/B7dvmIDYPC
— Tanuj Singh (@ImTanujSingh) November 29, 2020
Podra vediya. Hardik Pandya is here to bowl for the first time in many months.
Desperate times. Desperate measures.
— Siddarth Srinivas (@sidhuwrites) November 29, 2020
Hardik Pandya is finally bowling
Good for Mumbai Indians as well before next IPL. #AUSvsIND— R A T N I S H (@LoyalSachinFan) November 29, 2020
'I am working on my bowling. I am going to come in when the time is right'
-Pandya previously
And he gets to bowl today, right time or desperate time?
— Shrutika Gaekwad (@Shrustappen33) November 29, 2020
Two overs is the maxumum amount of overs the Indian team management had said Hardik Pandya is fit enough to bowl in an innings for this tour. Looks ok so far #AUSvIND @cricbuzz
— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) November 29, 2020
https://twitter.com/Cricketcoau/status/1332932292746964992?s=20
injured pandya bowling better than the rest of the line up just goes to show that the bowling unit was all over the place
— don't refer to me (@skilllissue) November 29, 2020
