It’ll be a while before Hardik Pandya bowls, India looking for sixth bowling option: Rohit Sharma

There has been a lot of hullabaloo over Team India’s ideal playing XI for the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. With Hardik Pandya not bowling a single over in the recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, the biggest question is whether the team management would consider him as a pure batter. If yes, then would it be safe going with just five bowling options?

With Ravindra Jadeja not being an out-and-out wicket-taker in T20s, many fans and experts believe India should have a sixth bowler in the line-up. The team management also seems to have a similar opinion. Speaking at toss ahead of India’s warm-up clash against Australia, Rohit Sharma, the stand-in Indian captain, said the team is keen to find a sixth bowling option.

Hardik Pandya is coming along pretty well: Rohit Sharma

“We want to make sure that we get the 6th bowling option, some options in the batting order as well, we’ll try all those things today. Hardik is coming along pretty well, but it’ll be a while before he will start to bowl. He hasn’t started bowling, but he should be ready by the start of the tournament. We have quality in the main bowlers, but you need an option for a 6th bowler,” Rohit Sharma said.

Rohit’s words indicate that Hardik won’t be able to bowl during India’s opening clash against Pakistan. Hence, it would be interesting to see how what combination India will go with. Besides Jadeja and Pandya, India don’t have any specialist all-rounder in their 15-man squad. Among the batters, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were bowling quite often few years ago.

However, the duo has hardly bowled in the last couple of years. Notably, India didn’t use any part-time bowler during their first warm-up clash against England. Virat Kohli, however, rolled his arm over for the clash against Australia.

Meanwhile, India, having won the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup, are touted as one of the favourites to get the glory this year. After all, they have many match-winners in the ranks. However, the side needs to get rid of their knack of collapsing in knock-out matches to get the title.