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Hardik Pandya and his fitness have been a concern and hot topic of discussion. While ahead of the big clash between India and Pakistan on a super Sunday on October, Indian skipper Virat Kohli highlighted on Pandya’s fitness and the possibility of the all-rounder bowling in the tournament, the star player was seen missing from the team’s additional training session on Saturday. Pandya did play the warm-up games against England and Australia, but didn’t bowl.
The light workout was organised in order to keep the players fresh and healthy before the high-pressure match against Pakistan. Ishan Kishan, like Pandya, was another absentee from the session. It's possible that Pandya was not obliged to participate in the training session due to his injury worries.
Pandya hasn't bowled a single over in either of the warm-up matches against England and Australia. Furthermore, he had not bowled in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 edition. However, skipper Kohli revealed that Pandya is recovering well and will bowl at some stage when India needs him during the World Cup and they aren’t perturbed about the sixth bowling option.
"Well, I honestly feel that Hardik Pandya presently with his physical condition is getting better in terms of being prepared to bowl at least two overs for us at a certain stage in this tournament and we strongly believe we can make the most of the opportunity we have at our hand till the time he starts bowling. We have considered a couple of other options to chip in with overs so we are not bothered about that all," the Indian skipper said during a virtual pre-match press conference.
Moreover, Kohli believes that even if Pandya is not bowling, he is a valuable addition to the Indian team at number 6 in the shorter format.
"What he brings at number six for us is something that you cannot create overnight. Hence, I was always in favour of backing him as a batter in Australia purely and we saw what he did in the T20I series and how he can take the game away from the opposition. We understand the value he brings to the team as a number six batter and it is important to have such players who can play impact innings. For us, that is way more valuable than forcing him to do something that he cannot at the moment, he is motivated and he is keen to start giving us a couple of overs to us," the 32-years-old added.
The high-voltage game between the two arch-rivals will be played on Sunday in Dubai in front of a jam-packed Dubai International Stadium.
