The mystery surrounding Hardik Pandya's injury and the time taken to recover from it is as big as India not winning an ICC trophy in the last 10 years. It's been almost three months since Hardik twisted his ankle during the World Cup match against Bangladesh, but everytime it is believed that he is close to making a recovery, a new setback emerges. He was initially expected to be fit for the game against Sri Lanka in the first week of November, but apparently the severity of his injury is such that not only was he ruled out of the tournament and missed being part of the Australia and South Africa series, Hardik failed to attain full fitness for the Afghanistan T20Is as well. In all probability, Hardik will return to the scene in the nick of time for the IPL, but don't be surprised if he somehow ends up missing the first half.
This is probably the second serious injury Hardik has sustained in his career. The most severe was of course his once injured back, for which he had to undergo surgery in September of 2020. And while he lost out on a lot of cricket for almost a year, Hardik returned stronger than ever, with a rejuvenated back and energy. Hardik has been bowling full tilt – giving India a strong sixth bowling option.
But despite a promising return from back injury, former South Africa pacer Allan Donald is worried about Hardik. Pointing out the challenges of a fast bowler's comeback after a back injury, the 'White Lightening' feels Hardik's bowling action – irrespective of how much he's worked on it – doesn't make for the most comfortable load and release.
"It's a big thing... because when we do screening from a young age, we do lots of video analysis on young kids when they come through the system, to make sure that biomechanically, they are absolutely fine, and they're not going to get hurt or injured seriously. So, doing the correct screening from a young age is incredibly important," Donald told Sportstar.
"Look, I think Hardik puts his body through a lot every single delivery. I mean, it's not a nice thing and also one needs to look at how strong these guys are these days. Hardik has spent a lot of time away from the game, building his body back up. And strength and conditioning is a major, major factor these days."
Hardik isn't the only star India cricketer whose career has been impacted with back issues. Jasprit Bumrah is probably the biggest example of a fast bowler going down with a troubled back. He was on the shelf for a year with a stress fracture on his back but despite the comeback, Bumrah managed to make a roaring comeback – arguably the best return of all time. With little or almost zero tweak in his action, Bumrah is back to doing Bumrah things, producing dream deliveries, nailing yorkers and picking up wickets.
Bumrah's action is something almost every renowned former cricketer has chipped his two cents on, but Donald's take on the India quick's run-up is quite fresh. He compared Bumrah's run-up to a golf swing, emphasising that while it may not be the smoothest, the science behind it is a casework.
"It's very, I mean, it's absolutely unique. You could see that he's obviously done this when he was a kid, playing backyard cricket or whatever it is. Or school cricket. He worked his run-up out for himself. It's a bit of a stutter. But when it actually comes to that last few 10 metres of sprint, he is hard. And all of a sudden, he has hit rhythm for the first time. And then, of course, the late release is quite incredible. And the control that he has over the outswing and the inswing is quite a thing to watch," added Donald.
"But in a way, it's like a golf swing. You can have the worst swing in the world, but the last foot all the way down towards the ball and you are smashing it 350 every single time. No one’s going to care. And that's exactly what good Bumrah does. It gets done."
© Provided by Hindustan Times
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