IPL 2021: We should see Hardik Pandya bowl in the next few weeks – Mahela Jayawardene

Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene has provided an update on Hardik Pandya’s bowling. The chief coach has revealed that we can see Pandya bowl in the next few weeks.

The former Sri Lanka captain stated that Pandya picked up a niggle in the ODI series leg against England and that’s why he hasn’t yet bowled for Mumbai Indians in the first three matches of the IPL.

Earlier, Mumbai Indians director of cricketer Zaheer Khan had revealed that the team’s all-rounder Hardik Pandya didn’t bowl in the opening clash against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chepauk Stadium, Chennai in order to manage his workload.

Pandya hasn’t bowled at regular intervals since returning from his back injury. In fact, one of India’s top agendas in the recent past has been to manage Pandya’s workload. The right-arm seam bowler bowled only 17 overs in the five T20Is against England whereas he sent down nine overs in the final ODI against the visitors.

“In his last ODI series against England, Hardik picked up a niggle. We don’t want to risk an injury with his bowling. He’s being assessed currently, and we should see him bowl over the next few weeks”.

Meanwhile, MI bowlers – Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, and Rahul Chahar have been right on the money in the last two matches. In fact, MI has won their last two games despite being on the backfoot and the credit goes to their potent bowling unit. It is well said that batsmen win you the games whereas the bowlers win you the championship and Jayawardene added that the focus has been to make bowling better.

“I can’t go into too much details regarding the planning. The bowling unit is something that we are very focused on. Bowlers win championships, and we have worked so hard over the years to create that culture in the setup. You need to have attacking options in all conditions, the quality, and skills to execute certain game plans in certain conditions against certain opponents”.

“Our batting line-up is capable of doing special things. But when you add a bowling line-up that can complement that, it’s always going to be tough for the opponents. Having guys like Jasprit (Bumrah) and Krunal (Pandya), who are seasoned campaigners, and then there is Trent Boult, who has amazing skills. Add to that, Rahul Chahar, who comes in and has a fearless attitude. There are some things we cannot plan. These are skills which individuals have, and we let them express them out in the middle”.

MI has got off to another good start as they have won two matches out of the three they have played. The Rohit Sharma-led team will face Delhi Capitals at the MA Chidambaram Stadium today.