India skipper Rohit Sharma, head coach Rahul Dravid and chief selector Ajit Agarkar had a meeting in Mumbai last week to discuss India's squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, The Indian Express reported.
According to the report, the primary agenda for the two-hour-long meeting was Hardik Pandya's selection in the World Cup squad.
The global showpiece tournament is slated to be held in the West Indies and USA from June 1 to June 29, while the ongoing IPL season culminates on May 26.
There is still some time before the selectors pick India's 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup 2024, but the team management is sweating over Hardik's bowling fitness.
The all-rounder, who is leading Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2024, has failed to live up to the expectations with both bat and ball.
Hardik has scored just 131 runs in six matches. Barring that one fiery knock against RCB where he scored 21* off 6 balls, there have been questions over his approach in the middle overs as he has failed to score at a desired strike rate.
The Indian team management, however, is more concerned about his bowling. Hardik has looked off-color with the ball this season. He has completed his full quota only twice out of six matches so far.
While Pandya didn't bowl a single over against Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals, he delivered only one over against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. In MI's last match against Chennai Super Kings, he conceded 43 runs in his three overs, which included getting hit for hat-trick of sixes by MS Dhoni.
Overall, Hardik Pandya has bowled 11 overs in the IPL 2024 so far, claiming only three wickets while going at 12 runs an over. The report claims that the MI captain will be considered for the T20 World Cup selection if he bowls well regularly in the IPL.
If the selectors ignore Hardik Pandya, then the obvious second choice is Shivam Dube, who has done enough with the bat to warrant a place in India's T20 World Cup side. However, Dube has not bowled a single ball in this IPL while playing for CSK.
The other names that can be thrown into the mix are Vijay Shankar and Venkatesh Iyer. Both of them have fallen behind in the pecking order after playing some white-ball matches for India. While Shankar is yet to bowl in the ongoing IPL for GT, Iyer has bowled just one over for KKR.
(The Indian Express Inputs)
