T20 World Cup 2021: Hardik Pandya should be ready to bowl when tournament starts – Rohit Sharma

India’s vice-captain Rohit Sharma has provided a crucial update on Hardik Pandya’s bowling fitness. Sharma, who captained in the warm-up match against Australia, revealed that Pandya should be ready to bowl when the tournament starts and he could bowl his quota of overs in the opening match against Pakistan.

Rohit revealed that Pandya should start bowling in a couple of days but he hasn’t yet started bowling. Pandya brings value to the Indian team as an all-rounder and he will certainly look to contribute. However, it was recently reported by a source that Pandya may not bowl in the T20 World Cup and will bat as a finisher.

“We obviously want to make sure we get our sixth bowling option as well. Possibly today is the game we can try all those things, try and see who can bowl, the bowler who can come in the bowl as the 6th option,” Rohit Sharma said at the toss ceremony of the second warm-up match against Australia.

“He is coming along pretty well. But it’s still going to take some time I think. Because he hasn’t bowled much. So when you play in these tournaments, you need to be absolutely fit and 100 percent. In fact, more than 100 percent. He is just getting there, he hasn’t started bowling yet. But hopefully, in the next few days, he will start bowling. He should be ready anytime when the World Cup starts.

“Possibly, we need to find that sixth option (Rohit’s off-spinners ready). Myself, Virat and Suryakumar, all those guys need to come in and bowl see who can be that sixth option. Not really (Worried about the balance). Even if you play with 5 bowlers, we have got the quality. But always you need that 6th option to free your bowlers, in case someone has a bad day. It’s always nice to have options when you’re playing a tournament as big as the World Cup,” Rohit added.

Meanwhile, Pandya has the skills to turn the match on its head and he can hit the ground running with his blistering. However, if Pandya can contribute with the ball then Virat Kohli can play with five genuine bowlers.

In fact, Pandya didn’t even bowl a single over for Mumbai Indians in the recently concluded Indian Premier League due to bowling fitness. Furthermore, Pandya wasn’t in the best of forms with the bat for MI as he could only score 127 runs in 11 innings at a meager average of 14.11 and a strike rate of 93.57.

Meanwhile, India convincingly defeated Australia in the second warm-up match by nine wickets and they will aim to continue their good show. Virat Kohli-led team will face Pakistan in their opening match of the T20 World Cup.