Mumbai Indians' (MI) head coach Mahela Jayawardena is aware of the need to manage all-rounder Hardik Pandya's workload as he comes back after a lengthy lay-off to play the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), starting September 19.
Pandya, always a crucial cog in Mumbai's wheels, underwent surgery on the back last year and had his break away from the game extended by the COVID-19 pandemic. The opening game of the IPL 2020 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Abu Dhabi will be Pandya's first competitive match in almost a year.
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Ensuring the 26-year-old doesn't take heavy load on his body too early and doesn't get himself injured again, Jayawardena says, has been a primary focus for the MI team management.
“Hardik is coming back from an injury. So we will have to be mindful of that but he is looking very good in the nets. Both the players (Pandya brothers) have been fantastic for MI over the last three or four years. It brings a lot of energy to the group," said the coach during MI's virtual press conference from UAE.
While Hardik's role has always been of a power-hitter who also provides useful overs at good pace, Jayawardena hinted that the part of managing the player's workload could be to use him in different spots, situations and even create back-ups for him in the slog-overs.
“We have used him (Hardik) in different roles in the past and we will look into that. We will have quite a number of other players who can fix into that role as well, so whenever the opportunity is there we ask anyone to finish the game off."
“It doesn’t just fall on Hardik but it is one of his responsibilities, so we want to try and challenge players in different ways in this camp, so we will continue to do that."
The defending champions MI brought in Chris Lynn to their squad, but Jayawardena said that doesn't mean the tried and tested opening pair of Quinton de Cock and skipper Rohit Sharma will be tinkered with.
“Having options is always great. Chris Lynn is a great addition to the squad but the combination of Rohit and Quinton has been there for us, last season they complement each other well."
“It has been very consistent and both are well experienced cricketers. I always feel ‘why fix something that ain’t broken’. So we will continue to go with that but having Lynn as an option gives us flexibility in the squad."
Coming back to the workload issue, Jayawardena said ace quick Jasprit Bumrah is just as important to Mumbai's chances as Pandya is. The former Sri Lanka captain is pleased with the amount of work on fitness and skills Bumrah did during the lockdown, which shall hold him in good stead in UAE and also when India travels to Australia for the Test series after the IPL.
“Boom (Bumrah’s nickname) has been training really hard during the quarantine period because of Indian commitments (which got postponed)," Jayawardena said.
“He has had a lot of bowling done back home as well, trying to keep up the load, because following the IPL, there will probably a Test series (Australia) for the Indian boys."
“For IPL, he looks quite sharp and Bumrah being very professional, he has looked after himself very, very well during that quarantine period and he is quite eager to go out and perform," he concluded.
(Inputs from PTI)
