Mumbai Indians bowling coach Shane Bond said Hardik Pandya had been kept out of action in the second leg of the IPL so far keeping in mind his utility value for India in the T20 World Cup.
“We are obviously balancing the needs of our team with Team India’s. The one thing that this franchise does really well is look after its players with an eye on not only winning this competition but also on the T20 World Cup that follows,” said Bond after MI’s loss against KKR on Thursday.
“Hopefully, Hardik will be fit for the next match. He trained today and trained pretty well by all counts,” he said.
Mumbai Indians had not received any “hard directive” from the BCCI about managing Hardik’s workload, but admitted the franchise didn’t want to risk Hardik injuring himself again.
“We are obviously desperate to put him back on the field and we were desperate to put him out there tonight as well,” Bond said.
“But you have to also consider what the player wants. There’s no point rushing him back to get injured and miss the rest of the tournament when we may have a chance to win it.
“I think we are doing the right thing and, hopefully, we will get him back shortly and he’ll have an impact on the back-end of the tournament,” said Bond.
Hardik’s pace-bowling abilities have been affected ever since he suffered a back injury during the 2018 Asia Cup. While announcing the WC squad, chief selector Chetan Sharma had stressed Hardik will “bowl in every match”.
Consequently, the Indian team management is understood to have suggested Hardik avoid bowling in the IPL.
