Team India Needs the Bowler in Hardik Pandya to Step Up at WC

Given the Indian team’s likely combination, Hardik Pandya should expect to bowl at least seven overs every match.

Coaches and commentators often use the adage ‘batsmen win matches, bowlers win tournaments’. That could very well hold true in the context of the Indian team’s fortunes in the upcoming World Cup; if India are to go the distance at the World Cup, the bowlers need to repeatedly have good days.

There is sufficient depth in the Indian team on the batting front; even in the eventuality of the most-dreaded top-order collapse, there is plenty of experience and ability in the rest of the batting line-up to bail the team out of troubled waters. However, considering the Indian team management generally prefers fielding only four specialist bowlers, quality resources will be limited on the bowling front. Therefore, every player tasked with the responsibility of bowling needs to be on top of his game, every ball, every over, every spell – day in and day out.

The 15-member squad chosen by the selectors has three specialist pacers, two specialist spinners and several all-rounders. Of those, two specialist pacers and one specialist spinner are a certainty in the XI – which leaves the team management the task of giving shape to the rest of the bowling attack.

Depending on the conditions, captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri may opt for a third pacer or use the second specialist spinner as the fourth bowling option.

That leaves captain Virat Kohli with the onerous job of getting 10 overs out of the all-rounders in the playing XI. Who does he turn to? He needs to get 10 good overs out of Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav and Vijay Shankar (if he gets the nod for the number four position). That is quite clearly the weak link in the playing XI India field; how much toll the opposition take of these 10 overs could have a significant bearing on the match.

The Bowler in Hardik Pandya Needs to Step Up

Hardik Pandya has the ability, and may have done enough, to command a place in the XI as a specialist batsman. The 25-year old had a phenomenal IPL 2019 with the bat too; he had his most productive season ever, scoring in excess of 400 runs, hit some astonishing sixes, and scored his runs at a strike-rate of 191.43

But at the World Cup in England, Hardik will have a different role to play; he may get an opportunity to bat, but he will be part of the think tank’s bowling plans and will be thrown the ball in every match. Given the Indian team’s likely combination – not to forget the conditions, Hardik should expect to bowl at least seven overs every match.

From his performances till date, Hardik can be counted as half a bowler, possibly even less a bowler. Here are some facts pertaining to Hardik Pandya’s bowling in the 44 ODIs he’s bowled in so far:

• He has bowled more than seven overs in only 21 matches
• He has gone wicket-less in 16 ODIs
• He’s had the poorest economy rate or the second-poorest economy rate in the innings in 25 ODIs

Hardly inspiring numbers those.

Even in the recently concluded IPL, Hardik came in for plenty of stick; he had a poor economy rate of 9.18 and ended the competition with the ignominy of being the bowler to concede the most sixes (along with Lasith Malinga).

Hardik, the Indian team expects a lot better from you at the World Cup.