Apart from Rishabh Pant, one of the most highly anticipated comebacks of IPL 2024 has to be that of Hardik Pandya. Not just because he came back to Mumbai Indians as a skipper, but also as he is returning after an injury after gap of good five months. The ace all-rounder had injured his ankle during the 2023 World Cup.
Now, when finally he stepped on the park for Mumbai, against GT on Sunday, although he looked fit, he just lacked a bit of zing in his bowling. That could be attributed to lack of match practice, as he returned with ugly match figures. In three overs he gave away 30 runs, with no wickets coming his way.
That’s not it. His bowling speeds were a bit down too, as he leaked away runs right from the start itself. In the first over he gave away 11 runs, with Saha and Shubman hitting him for a four each. It was a similar story in the second over as well, where this time Saha cracked him for two fours. Come the 14th over, he was slammed for 10 runs once again.
Pandya the Bowler Needs More Overs
To find his rhythm back, Pandya need to be consistently bowling at least 2-3 overs per match, and he would only improve from here. The all-rounder not only holds value for MI in the IPL, but also for Team India, with the T20 World Cup approaching soon.
