I Warned Hardik Pandya That He Would Get Injured: Shoaib Akhtar Recalls His Conversation With The Indian All-Rounder
Published - 11 Dec 2021, 06:06 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:02 AM
Former Pakistan pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar revealed that he had alerted Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya that he might get injured.
Hardik Pandya was under scrutiny for his selection for India in the T20 World Cup as the talking point going around at that period was about his fitness. Many experts slammed national selectors led by Chetan Sharma for not being aware of the player’s situation.
I warned Hardik Pandya that he would get injured: Shoaib Akhtar
Pandya had undergone back surgery in October 2019 in the United Kingdom after he complained of issues with his back in the South Africa T20I series at home.
Pandya also missed the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy for Baroda as he was currently undergoing a rehab process in Mumbai.
Akhtar recalled his conversation with Pandya regarding his fitness during a match and the former Pakistan speedster said he was shocked to see his muscles.
“In my conversation with Hardik Pandya, he said…”I still have such strong back muscles behind my shoulders, but they looked so lean. I was shocked. I warned him that he would get injured, but he told me that he has been playing a lot of cricket. Exactly an hour and a half later, he got injured,” Akhtar told Aakash Chopra on the latter’s YouTube channel.
Fast bowlers need to build their muscles: Shoaib Akhtar
Akhtar also spoke about India’s frontline pacers like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar must work on various strength and conditioning aspects in their training.
“Bhuvneshwar has to strengthen his glutes, hamstring, lower back and upper torso. Shami needs to have a leaner upper body. For Bumrah…it is the same, fast bowlers need to build their muscles. You go into a series with a six-inch muscle and return with two-inch after the series because there is loss of muscle mass,” Akhtar said.
“So you need to decide how much you need to run. Long runs twice a week is enough to keep yourself light on your feet. But if you know you are an explosive fast bowler then you do those specific training like sledge running,” he added.
Akhtar was one of the lethal pace bowlers of his era and picked 444 wickets from 224 international matches across all formats.
Also Read: 5 Current Fast Bowlers Who Can Break Shoaib Akhtar’s Record Of Fastest Ball In International Cricket
