T20 World Cup 2021: Hardik Pandya Not Able To Bowl Is The Biggest Headache For India - Brad Hogg

Former Australia spinner Brad Hogg has expressed concerns over Hardik Pandya’s bowling fitness which would be crucial to India‘s balance in the eleven in the upcoming T20 World Cup.

Hardik Pandya didn’t bowl a single ball in the recently-concluded IPL 2021. He has been battling back injuries for the past few years; he hasn’t featured in a Test match since 2018.

Pandya, though, has played in India’s white-ball eleven and Mumbai Indians’ team purely as a batter. His batting also suffered a dip during the IPL, where he scored 127 runs at an average of 14.11 with a strike rate of 113.39.

“Hardik Pandya is the biggest headache for India going into this tournament because he is an all-rounder and he has not been able to bowl. You want him to be able to be bat and bowl. That is going to put a big hole there,” Brad Hogg said in his YouTube video.

Brad Hogg’s India playing eleven:

Brad Hogg reckons India captain Virat Kohli will open alongside Rohit Sharma with the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant to follow. The 50-year-old dropped the in-form KL Rahul from the eleven and went with young Ishan Kishan, who struggled for a major part of the IPL but came good with two blazing half-centuries at the end.

Brad Hogg also dropped Pandya, picking Shardul Thakur as the all-rounder along with Ravindra Jadeja. Thakur was recently added to the 15-man squad, replacing Axar Patel.

He then picked the three frontline pacers, and Varun Chakravarthy as the spinner ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin.

Brad Hogg’s India playing eleven:

Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy.

India take on Pakistan in their opening encounter on October 24 in Dubai. They will then meet New Zealand, Afghanistan, and two other teams who will qualify from Round 1 in the Super 12 stage.

Also Read: BCCI President Sourav Ganguly Hopeful IPL 2022 Will Be Played In India