I am going to bowl in this series, confirms Hardik Pandya

Team India all-rounder Hardik Pandya has confirmed that he will bowl in the five-match T20I series against England. He was in the team for the first T20I in Ahmedabad on Friday.

The 27-year-old has played primarily as a batsman in recent matches following a back surgery in 2019. But when he was asked about whether he will bowl in the series, Hardik Pandya replied in the affirmative, saying:

“Hardik the bowler will be coming and bowling. It has been long that I have not bowled. But this series, I am going to bowl.”

On his preparations for the series, Hardik Pandya said that he has been waiting for it.

The Baroda player has been part of the Indian team bio-bubble for the last month and a half. He was part of the Test series but did not get a single game. He said in this regard:

“It has almost been one and a half month that I have been preparing for this format. It is going to be an important format this year after the Test championship. From me, it’s all about the process that I have been doing, and I can’t wait to get back.”

Preparation done ✅🇮🇳Can’t wait to get on the field on 12th 🌪 pic.twitter.com/Nyr6Bys2EF

— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) March 9, 2021

Will play according to the situation: Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya has backed his captain Virat Kohli’s views that the T20I team can be more aggressive and positive, as they have the youngsters to do the job.

On his own game, though, Pandya said that he would keep playing according to the situation. The Mumbai Indians player said in this regard:

“The kind of depth we have now, we can go with that kind of approach, where people can express themselves well. For me, I have always played according to the situation. That’s how I am going to play, as per what the team requires of me. The young boys can come in and play more freely.”

According to Hardik Pandya, the T20I series will be a ‘cracker’, as both teams are well-matched. He asserted:

“It is going to be a cracker of a series. the kind of depth they have, I think we are matching that as well now. T20 is a very funny format. Anyone can change the game on their particular day. It’s going to be fun.”

Earlier in the day, England won the toss and asked India to bat The hosts, who did not field vice-captain Rohit Sharma, got off to a disastrous start, losing KL Rahul for one and skipper Kohli for a duck.

The hosts eventually lost the game by eight wickets after managing a meagre 124 runs on the board.

Congratulations & best wishes to @yuzi_chahal who will be playing his 1⃣0⃣0⃣th international game today. 👏👏@Paytm #INDvENG #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/iTSr6cNfC0

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 12, 2021

India's playing XI: KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal.

England's playing XI: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (wk), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan (c), Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, Mark Wood, Adil Rashid.