Hardik Pandya’s recovery from injury concerns ex-SA pacer Allan Donald, says ‘he puts his body..’
Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been out of action for almost three years ever since he twisted his ankle during the World Cup match against Bangladesh.
But every time it appears he is close to making a recovery, a new setback emerges. Expected to be fit for the game against Sri Lanka in the first week of November, however, due to his injury, he missed being part of the Australia and South Africa series in 2023. Also, he failed to attain full fitness for the Afghanistan T20Is as well.
If things proceed like this, it may be speculated that he may miss the first half of the upcoming Indian Premier League 2024.
Looking at the records, this is most likely to be Hardik’s second serious injury in his career after September 2020. Following his previous injury, he had to miss the tournaments for almost a year. But when he returned, he was stronger, and with a rejuvenated back and energy.
Meanwhile, former South African pacer Allan Donald is worried about Hardik. According to him, Hardik’s bowling action – irrespective of how much he’s worked on it – doesn’t make for the most comfortable load and release.
“It’s a big thing… because when we do screening from a young age, we do lots of video analysis on young kids when they come through the system, to make sure that biomechanically, they are absolutely fine, and they’re not going to get hurt or injured seriously. So, doing the correct screening from a young age is incredibly important,” Hindustan Times quoted Donald telling Sportstar.
“Look, I think Hardik puts his body through a lot every single delivery. I mean, it’s not a nice thing and also one needs to look at how strong these guys are these days. Hardik has spent a lot of time away from the game, building his body back up. And strength and conditioning is a major, major factor these days.”
On Jasprit Bumrah:
Commenting on another Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah – who was also out of action for his back injury for sometime, Donald Donald’s take on the India quick’s run-up is quite fresh. Emphasizing that while it may not be the smoothest, Donald compared Bumrah’s run-up to a golf swing.
“It’s very, I mean, it’s absolutely unique. You could see that he’s obviously done this when he was a kid, playing backyard cricket or whatever it is. Or school cricket. He worked his run-up out for himself. It’s a bit of a stutter. But when it actually comes to that last few 10 metres of sprint, he is hard. And all of a sudden, he has hit rhythm for the first time. And then, of course, the late release is quite incredible. And the control that he has over the outswing and the inswing is quite a thing to watch,” added Donald.
“But in a way, it’s like a golf swing. You can have the worst swing in the world, but the last foot all the way down towards the ball and you are smashing it 350 every single time. No one’s going to care. And that’s exactly what good Bumrah does. It gets done.”
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Published: 09 Jan 2024, 06:12 PM IST
