India is all set to begin their T20 World Cup journey on October 24 against arch rivals Pakistan but there is one big concern brewing around India allrounder Hardik Pandya.The right-handed batsman is regarded as one of the best finishers in the world today with the bat but his bowling prowess is on the wane. Now as per reports, the BCCI selection committee, led by Chetan Sharma, is planning to tweak the squad due to Pandya's fitness issue. Hardik Pandya’s chances of bowling in the marquee event look dim after not bowling a single over during Mumbai Indians’ disappointing IPL campaign. The BCCI has five more days to make any change to the squad (other than injury).The ICC has allowed all the Super 12 teams a window of one week till October 15 to make any required change. For the Round-1 teams, the deadline for changing squad (without injury) ends on October 10, midnight (Dubai time).
It is still not sure whether Hardik, who has bowled sporadically since he suffered stress fracture in his back two years ago, will bowl full tilt at winner-takes-it-all event or will only concentrate on batting. “Indian team is at least one fast bowler short in the main squad of 15. They have two experienced campaigners in Shardul Thakur, who is also a handy bowling all-rounder and Deepak Chahar, who has shown his batting prowess in Sri Lanka in the stand byes. “So in case Hardik is not able to bowl, one of the two can be fitted in by the Committee," a senior BCCI source told .He played for Mumbai Indians (MI) as a specialist batsman as the franchise didn’t want to pressurize the all-rounder, who is still having trouble with his back injury. Questions have been raised on whether he brings the same amount of value to the Indian team when playing only as a batsman. If he can bowl at least a couple of overs, Hardik walks into the Indian playing XI any day. Now that MI has finished its IPL 2021 campaign, the players will step into the Indian bio-bubble in a few days. Hardik Pandya had been working with the MI physio to improve his overall match fitness but the final call on his role will be taken once the Indian physio takes a look at the 27-year-old.
