MATCH STORIES
Follow UsHardik Pandya might not have the best of records as a bowler, but India have always believed in the 30-year-old’s bowling ability.
At the 50-over World Cup at home eight months ago, Pandya operated as India’s third seamer till the time he was fit. Such was the belief India had in his bowling ability that they opted to leave out Mohammed Shami, and did not draft in the veteran seamer until they had no other option.
Every time Pandya has played for India, in fact, he’s been tasked with a decent amount of bowling responsibility, dating back to the time he made his international debut back in 2016.
But heading into this T20 World Cup, there were genuine concerns surrounding the bowling of the 30-year-old, who had endured a horror season with the ball in the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Pandya had sent down 36 overs with the ball in IPL 2024, and had taken just 11 wickets at an average of 35.2 and economy of 10.8.
These might seem like ‘bad but not awful’ figures for an all-rounder, especially in a season that proved to be a graveyard for bowlers, but no, Pandya was genuinely poor with the ball in IPL 2024 — among all bowlers who sent down at least 30 overs in IPL 2024, only Yash Thakur and Mohit Sharma had a worse economy rate.
His hideous showing in IPL 2024 raised concerns over his bowling, and the 30-year-old’s showing with the ball in the warmup encounter against Bangladesh compounded the concerns.
In a match in which Bangladesh scored 122 in the 20 overs they batted, Pandya bowled three overs and conceded 30 runs. 20 of these runs came in a solitary over, his third, where he got hit for 1 6 4 4 1 4 by the duo of Mahmudullah and Shakib Al Hasan.
But come the big occasion, at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, it took Pandya only 45 minutes to put all concerns to bed, in the Men in Blue’s opening game of T20WC 2024 against Ireland.
Bowling for the first time in Indian T20I colours since August 2023, Pandya proved to be one of the pick of the bowlers for the Men in Blue in their opening game, registering figures of 4-1-27-3.
On the day, with some metronomic seam bowling, the right-armer broke the back of Ireland’s middle-order to set up the game for India.
Bowling the first over after the powerplay, in which Arshdeep Singh had removed both the Irish openers, it took Pandya only five balls to strike.
And he registered his first wicket of T20WC 2024 with one of the balls of the tournament, castling Lorcan Tucker with an in-nipper that pitched outside off and seamed back in viciously to go through the gate of the right-hander.
In the context of the game, it was a massive wicket. Tucker was one of the most in-form Irish batters heading into the contest, having smashed 223 runs in his previous five T20I innings. Ahead of this clash, Tucker’s last five scores read 51, 73, 40, 55 & 4. And each of these innings had come in the month of May.
However, on the day, the wicketkeeper batter could only manage a sluggish 13-ball 10.
The first two balls Pandya bowled to Curtis Campher saw him get hammered for a four and six, respectively, but the right-armer produced the perfect comeback on the final ball of his second over.
This one was arguably as good, if not better, than the Tucker one. Here, Pandya pulled the length back slightly, but the line was pretty much the same (around fifth stump). Campher hung his bat trying to protect his stumps, but this delivery deviated away and took the outside edge of the right-hander.
Pandya followed this impressive final ball up with a wicket maiden in his third over. He dismissed Mark Adair on the first ball of his third over — thanks to a wild hoick from the batter — and then was all over Barry McCarthy, who played five consecutive dots. Pandya kept his plan simple — tight lines around off — and McCarthy had no clue whatsoever.
After three overs, the all-rounder’s figures read 3-1-13-3.
Pandya, at this point, was on course to bowl his best ever spell in T20Is. But what was shaping up to be a near-perfect day for the team India vice-captain got ruined slightly in his final over, as he got taken apart by the duo of Gareth Delany and Josh Little, who hammered him for 14 runs.
The final over proved to be a slight mood kill, but ultimately, the clash turned out to be the perfect entry to T20WC 2024, with the ball, for Pandya.
“I needed to be fuller than back of a length today. On this kind of surface you need to be disciplined and hit the right areas,” he said of his bowling after the first innings.
Pandya further said that he enjoyed the wicket of Tucker the most.
“I really liked the first wicket, don't hit the stumps often as I usually bowl short of a length.”
The first week of this T20WC has already shown that IPL form will pretty much prove to be irrelevant, for both batters and bowlers, due to the nature of the surfaces on offer.
Thus, along the same lines, India will be delighted with the start Pandya has made with the ball. They will hope that this performance restores his confidence and enables him to play a significant role with the ball in hand in the remainder of the competition.
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