A big relief and good news for the Indian cricket fans, and the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Gujarat Titans, as Hardik Pandya has resumed bowling and is doing well during practice sessions.
He is also likely to play a few games in the upcoming Ranji Trophy 2022 for Baroda later this month.
Gujarat Titans' spin bowling coach, Aashish Kapoor, revealed that Pandya has started bowling during his practice sessions, and they also asked the all-rounder to play a few games in the upcoming Ranji Trophy 2022 to see how things turn out before they could give him a bowl during the franchise's camp in March.
Notably, the star Indian all-rounder is yet to play any competitive match post the ICC T20 World Cup 2021, and whatever cricket he played in the past few years, he didn’t bowl at his full capacity and that became a big issue for Team India.
However, during the IPL 2022, fans can expect to see a complete all-rounder in Hardik Pandya leading the Gujarat Titans in the tournament.
Aashish Kapoor told ANI: “Last two months I have been in Bahrain, I was coaching the National team over there. So, Nehra has been in constant touch with him from the time we have retained him and Nehra has been talking to him. He has also spoken about how to arrange and where to arrange practice sessions for him and get those things done.”
He added, “Asking him to play a few Ranji Trophy games before he turns up for a camp which may be in March with some point in March may be in Mid-March. So, he has been also starting to bowl that's what he has told Nehra. He has started to bowl, he is bowling well and batting he has no problems in any case because mainly we want to know whether he can bowl for us like how in the Indian team.”
Kapoor concluded, “So if he can bowl and bat both it is an added advantage because there are not too many all-rounders in India (medium pace all-rounders). He is the only one that you can think of at the moment so if you have that all-rounder with you then I think you are on the plus side.”
(With ANI Inputs)
