The Indian cricket team was dealt a few hefty blows heading into the T20 World Cup 2022, as star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and marquee pacer Jasprit Bumrah were ruled out of the tournament due to injuries. Without Bumrah, India’s pace attack looks unconvincing. Even former Pakistan cricketer Aaqib Javed doesn’t see India as one of the favourites going into the mega event but is of the opinion that Hardik Pandya in particular is someone who can change the course of the game on his own.

“India ki halat jo hain na woh bhi kuch aachi form main nehin hain. Unke batting bhi struggle kar raha hain, aur Bumrah ke bager bowling waisi nehin hain ki aap soche ki…ki ek impact hota hain bowler ka jo Shaheen ka hai ya Haris ka hain. Yeh impact ka bara pressure hota hain, fark padta hain. Unke jo abhi bowlers hain woh aam medium pace bowlers hain. Ha Pandya ek hain jo game kisibhi waqt change kar sakta hain.

(The condition India are in at the moment, there form isn’t good. Their batting is struggling and without Jasprit Bumrah, they don’t have an impact bowler like Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf. An ‘impact’ bowler creates a lot of pressure on the opponents and that makes a difference. They only have medium pace bowlers right now but they do have Hardik Pandya who can change the game at any point of time,” he said.

Promoted

Axar Patel was picked as Ravindra Jadeja’s replacement in the Indian team while Mohammed Shami has come in to fill the Jasprit Bumrah void for the T20 World Cup 2022.

India will open their T20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan on October 23. When the two teams had squared-off last year in the T20 World Cup, Pakistan had beaten India by 10 wickets.