Indian skipper Virat Kohli when asked on Friday (March 26) about why Hardik Pandya isn’t bowling in the ongoing ODI series against England said that team management is managing the all-rounder's workload to keep him fit and ready for all three formats.
The ongoing three-match ODI series between India and England stands level at 1-1 after Jonny Bairstow (124) and Ben Stokes (99) combined to take Indian bowlers to cleaners and chased down the mammoth target of 336 runs in 44th over.
In both the ODIs, Team India stuck with five solitary bowlers while flamboyant all-rounder Hardik Pandya played as specialist batsman only and was expected to bowl in the second ODI after Indian spinners were smashed by Bairstow and Stokes.
Talking about why Hardik Pandya didn’t bowl in the first two ODIs, Indian skipper Virat Kohli during the post-match presentation of second ODI revealed that, Team India have their eye on the upcoming Test matches in England and want to ease all-rounder through the levels of workload.
“We need to manage his (Hardik) body. Need to understand where we need this skill set. (We) did utilise him in the T20Is but in the ODIs, it's about managing his workload. We have Test cricket in England coming up too. So it's important for us to have him fit,” Virat Kohli said during the post-match presentation.
Hardik Pandya after having a back surgery last year bowled his full quota of four overs for the first time during the recently concluded T20I series against England, which India won 3-2.
He bowled in all the five games and picked up 3 wickets in those games at a decent economy of 6.94 - the second-best from both sides.
(PTI inputs)
