Virat Kohli's childhood coach lashes out at Hardik Pandya for his recent statement on role in T20 WC 2021

Virat Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma has slammed the Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya for his recent statements on his role in the T20 World Cup 2021. Hardik had recently told that he was picked up as a batter for the T20 World Cup 2021 and was required to bowl on one occasion for the team’s sake. His statement came as a big surprise as India did not have any other genuine all-round option other than Pandya in the top six batters for the T20 World Cup 2021.

India did not have the best of times in the T20 World Cup 2021 crashing out in the super 12 stages of the tournament after suffering early losses to Pakistan and New Zealand. Hardik’s fitness issues have been a concern ahead of the big tournament and his form wasn’t good either in the IPL 2021. He is currently working on his recovery from the injury concerns and is not part of the India squad for the West Indies series.

Hardik should be thankful that they picked him: Rajkumar Sharma

Rajkumar Sharma explained the management had been kind to Pandya by picking him for the T20 World Cup 2021 despite his fitness concerns and mentioned that Pandya should have come up with a more mature statement. India is currently exploring the options in the top six batters who can bowl as well for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022.

“The selectors and team management favoured Hardik Pandya in the T20 World Cup 2021. Him coming out and saying what he said is not a mature statement. You should be thankful that they picked you were picked by the team management for the T20 World Cup, despite fitness concerns.” Rajkumar Sharma said on Hardik’s statement on YouTube channel Khelneeti

Recently, Pandya was named as the captain for the Ahmedabad franchise for IPL 2022 and this will be his first stint as a leader of a side in the tournament. He was bought for 15 Crores alongside Rashid Khan(15Cr) and Shubman Gill(7Cr) and it will be interesting to see if he can regain his bowling fitness ahead of the IPL 2022. The mega auction for IPL 2022 is set to take place on February 12th and 13th in Bengaluru.