Delhi: Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya's place in the Indian team for the ICC T20 World Cup to be played in West Indies and United States of America in June this year is not confirmed. According to reports, the selection of the Mumbai Indians (MI) captain in the World Cup team will depend on his bowling performance in the subsequent IPL matches. Hardik has not been able to shine in bowling yet in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.

Meanwhile, India's chief selector Ajit Agarkar, head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma recently held a meeting at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) headquarters in Mumbai to review preparations for the upcoming World Cup. All three have agreed that Hardik should be included in the World Cup team only if he bowls consistently in the IPL.

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For your information, let us tell you that in the current edition of IPL, Pandya has bowled only in four out of the 6 matches played for Mumbai Indians. He opened the bowling for his team in the first two matches against Gujarat Titans (GT) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), but he was not ready to bowl in the next two matches. However, after this he bowled one over against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and three overs against Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

In Mumbai's last match against Chennai Super Kings, Hardik took two wickets but gave away 43 runs in three overs. In the last over against Pandya, veteran wicketkeeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit three consecutive sixes, after which the all-rounder had to be embarrassed. Along with this, there is doubt over Hardik playing in the T20 World Cup.

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Hardik Pandya's performance in IPL 2024

If we look at Hardik Pandya's performance in the current season, he has only 131 runs and three wickets in 6 matches so far. During this period, he has bowled with an economy of around 12 and in such a situation, this is a matter of big concern for the selectors. Many former players doubt whether Hardik is still vulnerable to injury. Despite opening the bowling in two matches, Pandya has been unable to generate swing or variation with the new ball.

Apart from the power play and death overs, the batsmen are also beating Hardik badly in the middle overs. In this season of IPL, he has given away 44 runs in four overs with an economy of 11, 62 runs in the middle six overs with an economy of 10.33 and 26 runs in one death over with an economy of 26. In these three phases of bowling, the right-arm fast bowler has managed to take one wicket each.

Now it remains to be seen whether Hardik Pandya is successful in making his place in the Indian team for the upcoming T20 World Cup or not.

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