Is Hardik Pandya back with fitness and ready for the World Cup

The man who could bat, bowl, and field with equal intensity. Within a short period of time, people started hailing him as the next Kapil Dev. The phase saw a lot of hype for him owing to his consistent performances.

He won a lot of games for his team. A finisher in the lower-middle order that India always searched for came in the form of Hardik Pandya. He was an asset for the men in Blue in every role that he used to play. However, an injury in 2019 came as a major setback for the player. After the recovery from injury, he couldn’t deliver in the same way that he used to. He looked struggling with the bat and the ball. Considering his inability to perform in the 2021 T20I World Cup, he was dropped from the team’s squad for most of the matches. In Fact, he made himself unavailable for any game until he recovered completely. Even if he was seen on the field, it was just for batting.

Laser focus on the fitness

Following all this, he was even released by the Mumbai Indians before auctions of IPL 2022. He was then signed by the new franchise Gujarat Titans as the captain for the team. Hardik Pandya had to pass the yo-yo test before joining the Gujrat Titan’s camp and he joined after successfully passing the test. It was after 2 years of long wait that fan got to see their all-rounder back with the ball on the field during this IPL. The player himself said that he doesn’t believe IPL to be a comeback. He just wants to concentrate on his fitness, the team’s win, and not worry about the future. Though he had faith that if he performs well with the new franchise, it might help him reclaim his spot in the blue jersey. He even in the jersey reveal of his franchise said that he has been working hard and his bowling would be a surprise.

“I am looking forward to this IPL because I have been away from the sport for quite a long time. For me, it is very exciting, I will get to see where exactly I am after three months of hard work that I have put in behind closed doors," said Hardik Pandya

A fresh start for the Captain Hardik Pandya

In the first encounter against Lucknow Super Giants, he was unable to pick wickets in his 4-overs spell and ended up conceding 37 runs at an economy of 9.25. However, in the second match against Delhi Capitals, Tim Seifert became Hardik Pandya’s first wicket after the wait of 2 long years. Apart from the wicket, he carried an economy of 5.50 in his spell which earned the bowler a lot of praise. 

Irfan Pathan heaped praise on the skipper and said, “The best thing about Hardik is that he’s once again started bowling. You can see that he’s not trying to bend a lot while releasing the ball, which means he’s not putting a lot of strain on his back.

“There might be a slight dip in his pace due to this but bowling two-three good overs at the start will give him the confidence to do well. If Hardik Pandya the batter and Pandya the bowler does well, then Pandya the captain will eventually do well. He’s looking to leave the disappointments of the previous season behind and make a fresh start,” 

Fans are extremely delighted to see Hardik Pandya back in action and will be hoping to see some fierce action from him both with bat and bowl. Team selectors will also be looking closely at this IPL as the World Cup is coming up and he is an asset that the team would want to have in their squad for a tournament this big.