Hardik Pandya was not bowling because we were saving him for T20 World Cup – Chetan Sharma

Hardik Pandya was selected in the upcoming T20 World Cup squad despite his ordinary display in the last series against Sri Lanka. He even failed to perform in the Indian leg of the Indian Premier League. Hardik had also stopped bowling since returning from injury.

According to the chief selector, Chetan Sharma, Hardik was told to refrain from bowling in order to remain in shape for the T20 World Cup.

“Considering the wickets we could get, where only two fast bowlers play, there’s no point taking someone to warm the bench. It was better to take utility players who can come in handy. We did discuss T Natarajan’s name but he hasn’t played cricket for long, and he’s also been on the injury list, so we stuck to the main guys who are our strike bowlers,” he said.

Chetan Sharma further added that Hardik will bowl in the T20 World Cup. “There’s always an intention to have some variation but, because of the wickets that are expected, we decided on three fast bowlers with Hardik Pandya as the fourth bowler. In that case, it was difficult to include a left-arm fast bowler. Hardik is absolutely fit and he’s going to bowl his quota of overs in every match. We didn’t bowl him very often because we were saving him for the World Cup.”