|| India Correspodent ||
Team India are all set to take on England in the five-match T20I series in Ahmedabad from March 12. Before that, vice-captain Rohit Sharma said that all-rounder Hardik Pandya would love to contribute with the ball in the T20 series as well as he has been doing "everything he could" do to get back in form after a back surgery that kept him away from bowling constantly.
Although he bowled only once across three ODIs and as many T20Is he has played since his return post back surgery in October 2019, he did well with the bat. And, now he is preparing to take on England as well.
"Of course he’s been an integral part of the squad. He is been working on his bowling and batting, trying to sharpen those skillset. It’s been good month and a half that he’s been with the team in order to get ready for this limited series," Rohit Sharma said ahead of the first T20 on Friday. "He's done pretty much everything so it seems that time has come for him to get ready and start doing what he does. He's worked hard for his bowling and batting in this last few weeks. I hope he’s ready to do what the team expects from him."
Apart from Pandya, in-form Rishabh Pant has also returned to the T20 side after his recent success in Test cricket and Rohit believes nothing could really stop him now.
"He can go from strength to strength. There is no looking back for him. So far he has done exceptionally well from Australia to the home series against England recently, he’s performed exceptionally well," he said. "I don’t see anything stopping unless you guys stop putting pressure on him. The good thing about his game right now is he is starting to understand the game situation, something that he ticks a box."
Ever since he got the chance in the Test series against Australia, he grabbed it with both hands. He put up a great show there and got rewarded too with the inclusion in England series. His match-winning knocks here too help the team win matches as well. He scored a swashbuckling 101 to help India win the fourth and final Test against England by an innings and 25 runs as well.
"He can go from strength to strength from here. He is looked very good in keeping, approach or batting in all three departments," Rohit Sharma again said.