‘He hasn’t bowled a single ball yet’ – Rohit Sharma shares an update on Hardik Pandya’s bowling

Mumbai Indians’ skipper Rohit Sharma, on Friday, revealed that Hardik Pandya is nowhere near to returning to bowling. In the last three years, injuries at regular intervals and subsequent surgeries have not allowed Hardik to bowl a whole lot. Although he bowled earlier this year when he played for India, Hardik didn’t get to roll his arms over in the cash-rich IPL.

The 34-year-old Rohit stated that Pandya is under the constant surveillance of the medical team. Hardik is also a part of the 2021 T20 World Cup, starting October 17, in the UAE itself. The 27-year-old is set to get some rest before the mega event as MI haven’t qualified for the playoffs, having already been knocked out of the IPL.

He’s getting better day by day, says Rohit Sharma

“In terms of his bowling, he [Hardik] hasn’t bowled yet. So, the physios, the trainers, the medical team is working on his bowling. As of now, all I know is, he hasn’t bowled a single ball yet. But we wanted to take one game at a time and see where he stands,” Rohit told in the post-match press conference.

“He didn’t bowl today as well, but he’s getting better day by day. So, in the next week or so, he might be able to bowl – only the doctors or the physios will be able to give an update on that,” he added.

Rohit also said that Hardik wasn’t happy with the way he batted in the IPL 2021. In 11 innings in the ongoing edition, the right-hander managed 127 runs at an average of 14.11 and a strike rate of 113.39 with a top score of an unbeaten 40.

“As far as Hardik’s batting is concerned, yes he will be a little disappointed. But he’s a quality player, there’s no doubt about that, and he has come back from tough situations before as well. Personally, for him, he will not be happy with his batting,” Rohit added.

On October 8, MI beat the Sunrisers Hyderabad by 42 runs at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Although they equalled Kolkata Knight Riders on points, MI couldn’t surpass KKR’s net run rate in the race to reach the playoffs.