Dubai: Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma has said that all-rounder Hardik Pandya might be able to start bowling by next week and the physios are regularly working with him.
Mumbai Indians on Friday finished the IPL 2021 at fifth position. The side ended their IPL 2021 campaign with a 42-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) but failed to qualify for the playoffs. In the second phase of the tournament, Hardik did not bowl a single ball and he struggled even with the bat in hand.
"Yeah, look in terms of his bowling, he has not bowled yet. The physios, trainers and medical team are working on his bowling. As of now, all I know is he has not bowled a single ball yet but we wanted to take it one game at a game and see where it stands. He did not bowl against SRH as well but you know, he is getting better day by day. He might be able to bowl by the next week, who knows? The doctors and physios will be able to give an update on that," Rohit said during a virtual post-match press conference.
"As far his batting is concerned, yes he will be disappointed but we know the quality of him. He is a quality player, there is no doubt about that. Personally, he would not be happy with his batting, but the team and I have faith in his abilities. He is getting every time he goes out to the field. Players like him are just one innings away from coming back to their natural way. If I have to put everything together, I am confident about his ability and I am sure he will be a huge asset," he added.
Mumbai Indians had scored 235 in 20 overs against SRH on the back of blistering performances from Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav.
"We just did not play as a team and collectively as a group, we did not come together and that was the main reason behind us not qualifying for the playoffs. When you want to win games and tournaments, you need to put in a collective performance. We do not tend to rely on one or two individuals at any given stage, we always believe in everyone chipping in. That did not happen this year and it was disappointing," said Rohit.
"It is a different squad here and it will be a different squad at the T20 World Cup. What we do here is different from what we do there. There is a lot of mixed understanding of the two teams, all the six or seven guys we have over here, would have liked to had a good run but it did not happen. You saw a couple of fine performances against SRH from Suryakumar and Ishan. When you talk about the T20 World Cup, there will be a couple of practice games, guys can get back into their rhythm and see what we can do over there," he added.
(ANI)
