India’s Hardik Pandya, left, and head coach Gautam Gambhir (PTI Photo)
Hardik Pandya ’s workload and lack of recent cricket could become a key consideration for India as they build towards the 2027 ODI World Cup, with head coach Gautam Gambhir stressing the all-rounder’s need for sufficient game time before the global tournament. Bumrah is away on Asian Games duty, while Pandya is still not fit to bowl 10 overs in an ODI. After the IPL, the all-rounder has not played a substantial amount of cricket, and Gambhir believes that could leave him short of game time if his focus is primarily on the 50-over format. So if the focus is only that he has to play the 50-over format, then he might be short of cricket,” Gambhir said.
Because the way if you talk about Jassi or if you talk about Hardik, very few teams have a player like that who can bowl 10 overs for you, plus bat at number six or seven, plus with that impact,” Gambhir told JioStar ahead of India’s home season. Because he needs game time as well, “Especially for Hardik,. Because after the IPL he hasn’t played a lot of cricket.
“Often for Test match preparation, you will have to give your batters a break as well from white-ball to move into Test cricket, because coming from T20 to one-day cricket is easy,” he said. India begin their World Cup preparations with the upcoming three-match ODI series against the West Indies, but will be without both Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah . Gambhir, however, made it clear that both remain central to India’s plans for the World Cup in South Africa. “Whether it’s Hardik , whether it’s Jasprit Bumrah, both of them are going to be extremely important for us in South Africa. The bigger concern for Pandya is match practice. Gambhir’s own tenure has already produced major white-ball success, with India winning the Champions Trophy and T20 World Cup during his two years in charge. The team, however, has also suffered Test-series defeats against New Zealand and South Africa at home.