CHENNAI: The Dubai International Stadium does not hold happy memories for Hardik Pandya. The last time he played against Pakistan in an Asia Cup encounter at the venue, he slipped over on his follow-through and had to be stretchered off the field. It was the first major back injury for the fast-bowling all-rounder. At that point, the biggest worry was the kind of impact it would have on his career. On several occasions since, Hardik had spoken about how he thought it was over. While he did comeback and had a relatively successful 2019 World Cup, at some level, issues kept coming back.
For someone whose stock ball is back-of-length cutters and occasional bouncers, having a back injury is never ideal. And it showed. Hardik wasn’t able to bowl, and as a result, India had to look for other options. They tried a few players in his position as the all-rounder went through surgery, trying to make a comeback for the T20 World Cup last year. And Hardik did return to the team in time after a surgery, but he wasn’t the same bowler. That had a significant impact on the team combination India had to field.
In the clash against Pakistan last October at Dubai, he did not roll his arms and India faced an early exit in the tournament.
However, almost a year since, he has turned things around for good. In the last few months, he had bowled consistently and led Gujarat Titans to an IPL title, captained India in Ireland, and was back bowling his stock deliveries.
On Sunday, Hardik was up against the same opponents at the same venue. And with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Khan setting the tone, sticking to short-of-length deliveries, Hardik had no trouble following the plan. While he did concede boundaries, he was troubling Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed. And it wasn’t just Hardik. Back-of-length seemed to be the tactic for India, having gone into the clash with four pacers and two spinners. But the key here was the way Hardik was able to execute the plans. He was bending his back, clocking late 130KPHs to mid 140KPHs on the speed gun, consistently hitting the hard lengths while experimenting the sharp bouncers every now and then.
Soon, he had his rewards, dismissing Iftikhar (28) with a short-pitched delivery. In his next over, he removed Rizwan (43) with a sharp bouncer that was angled into the right-hander, who ramped it straight to third-man. Two balls later, he repeated the same angle to remove Khushdil Shah. He finished with 3/25 as Pakistan were bundled out for 147 with Bhuvneshwar taking 4/26.
If that wasn’t enough, Hardik smashed an unbeaten 17-ball 33 during the chase to take India home in a last-over thriller.
Now, the heartening thing for India is that it’s not the first time he has gone on a short-ball rampage. Not too long ago, Hardik had a similar battle against Liam Livingstone during the England tour. That he is able to deliver consistently is a massive boost for India going into the T20 World Cup. While it is still a month away, four years since his first major back injury, Hardik has come full circle in Dubai on Sunday, erasing the bitter memories of 2018.