Back injuries can be career-threatening. Ask Hardik Pandya, who suffered twice before going for surgery. He first sustained it during the 2018 Asia Cup against Pakistan. He rested and got back up. The all-rounder then played the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL) season and the World Cup right after that; only for the injury to resurface in England. At that point in time, he knew it was time for surgery.
After a long injury layoff, he returned for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League in the UAE last year, but did not bowl throughout the tournament. He made his India return in the white-ball leg of the Australian tour and bowled four overs (in the 2nd ODI) despite playing all six matches.
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Fast forward to the India-England T20I series --which the host clinched 3-2 at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad-- Hardik Pandya completed his quota of four overs in three games, and bowled two and three overs in the other two T20I, respectively.
The fitter-looking cricketer from Baroda charged in with a tweaked action, picking up five wickets in the series. In the fifth and deciding T20I on Saturday, he dismissed opposition skipper Eoin Morgan and returned with figures of 1/34 in four overs.
{{/usCountry}}The fitter-looking cricketer from Baroda charged in with a tweaked action, picking up five wickets in the series. In the fifth and deciding T20I on Saturday, he dismissed opposition skipper Eoin Morgan and returned with figures of 1/34 in four overs.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking to Star Sports after the match, Pandya gave an update on his fitness.
"I have been working on fine-tuning my action, but at the end of the day, you are thinking of what kind of delivery you want to bowl, It's slightly difficult but I am coping really well. When I bat I think as a batsman and when I bowl I think as a bowler," explained Pandya.
Pandya scored 86 runs in five matches. Since he bats lower down the order, he doesn't usually get many deliveries to face. But on Saturday, he was promoted to no. 4 position, and he scored an impactful 17-ball 39 in the last T20I that propelled India past 200-run mark.
India tried out different opening pairs and constantly shuffled the batting order. While it did raise some eyebrows, the method proved to be successful in the end.
Moreover, the coin toss became a hot topic as the pitch seemed to favor the team batting second. However, India lost the toss in the last two games and still managed to defend successfully.
When asked about his thoughts on the host rejigging the batting order and breaking a certain pattern, Pandya commented: "Looking at the World Cup, in this series we wanted to try out a few things and also to break the jinx of batting first and winning, feels really great. The wicket allowed us to use more variations and make sure that the batsmen are not getting anything in their zone."
The last leg of this tour is the ODI series, slated to begin in Pune on Tuesday, March 23, and the Men in Blue have landed in the city on Sunday evening.