DTVHINDI
Former Team India head coach Ravi Shastri has advised Hardik Pandya to improve his fitness. He has asked Pandya to focus especially on bowling fitness. 30-year-old Hardik has had to struggle with injuries many times in his 8-year career. Last year, Hardik had to be out of the ODI World Cup midway due to an ankle injury. At the same time, Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar also cited Hardik’s fitness as the reason behind removing him from the T20 captaincy.
In a conversation with ICC, Ravi Shastri has advised Hardik Pandya that he should play as many T20s as possible to make a comeback in the ODI team. Shastri said, “In my opinion, it is very important that he continues to play. I believe that match fitness is important. So he should play as much T20 cricket as possible. And if he is fit and feeling better, then he should also come in the ODI team.”
Meanwhile, Shastri also stressed on Pandya bowling his full quota of overs in ODI cricket. He said, “If you have a player who is bowling only 3-4 overs instead of 10 overs in ODIs, it disturbs the balance of the team. If you bowl 7-8 overs in most of the matches and the way Pandya bats, it becomes a bonus for the team.”
Hardik was sidelined from Test cricket in 2018 due to a back injury. He recovered without surgery and was included in the 2019 ODI World Cup squad, but the injury resurfaced later that year and he had to undergo surgery that year. He later returned to the field in 2021, but was included in the T20 World Cup squad only as a batsman, which cost the Indian team dearly.
More recently, Hardik suffered an ankle injury during India’s fourth game in the ODI World Cup last year, which kept him away from cricket for a long time. He then returned as captain in IPL 2024 but his performance this season was very poor. He made a brilliant comeback in the T20 World Cup last month with a brilliant all-round performance, including the final match, where he dismissed the dangerous Heinrich Klaasen and then David Miller in the death overs to guide the team to victory.
