I Bowls At The Quickest Only When Required: Hardik

Manchester
Hardik Pandya, the bowler, feels he has finally got his rhythm back, and going forward, the India star will continue to be ‘smart’ about his job and bowl at a full pace only when ‘required’.
Not being able to bowl regularly due to fitness issues had cost Hardik his place in the Indian team but he made a roaring comeback with the IPL. More recently, he was at his absolute best with bat and ball in the white-ball series in England.
His ability with the bat was never in doubt but he has turned heads with his brilliant bowling performances against England. The 28-year-old took career-best figures, 4/33 and 4/24, in the T20 and ODI series. The standout figures in the 50-over format came on Sunday when he bowled at a good pace before making a match-winning contribution with the bat alongside Rishabh Pant.
Speaking to the media post the third ODI, Hardik said to be able to bowl regularly gives him a lot of satisfaction.
So firstly with my bowling, you know post IPL. After every series, I take maybe four or five days to train because that is refueling for my fitness and just to get fresh. I like to play 100 percent because then it allows me to do all the things which I did today, said Hardik.
He could not find the rhythm in the preceding series in Ireland but England brought the best out of him. After IPL, I came back to play the South Africa series. I bowled one over and I did not bowl in a couple of games. As a bowler for me, it’s very important to keep bowling. So I was not finding the rhythm. Even in Ireland when I played I was not getting the rhythm which I wanted to because I find myself a control bowler. I don’t have many skills you know, get the batter out by opening him up and nipping the ball inside and all that, I play with smartness. I try to outsmart the batter, he said.
Hardik said the four-wicket burst in the first T20 gave him much-needed confidence. So for me, it’s very important to get my consistency, something which I worked on. I went back to the videos which I saw before and it was more about the feeling so it was just before the first T20 game against England. I generally don’t practice before the game but I just went in and bowled a couple of hours with the full run-up and full effort. That’s where I got my rhythm and when that four-wicket haul (against England in T20s) kind of changed everything and gave me my consistency and my confidence to pitch wherever I want to, so that’s where I come into the picture, and be effective, he added.