India
find
themselves
in
a
must
win
situation
after
the
10-wicket
hammering
they
got
from
Pakistan.
Hardik’s
inability
to
bowl
has
disturbed
the
balance
of
the
side.
Hardik,
who
last
rolled
his
arms
over
in
the
Sri
Lanka
series
in
July,
did
not
bowl
a
single
over
in
the
UAE
leg
of
the
IPL
for
Mumbai
Indians.

Hardik
had
also
hurt
his
shoulder
while
batting
against
Pakistan
and
did
not
take
the
field
after
India’s
innings
as
he
had
to
go
for
scans.
On
Wednesday
Hardik
went
through
fitness
drills,
which
included
short
sprints,
under
the
watchful
eyes
of
strength
and
conditioning
coach
Sohum
Desai
and
physio
Nitin
Patel.

After
that
he
bowled
close
to
20
minutes
to
Bhuvneshwar
Kumar
and
Shardul
Thakur
in
one
of
the
nets.
India
chief
coach
Ravi
Shastri
and
mentor
Mahendra
Singh
Dhoni
closely
monitored
Hardik’s
progress.
Following
his
brief
bowling
stint,
Hardik
took
throwdowns
from
batting
coach
Vikram
Rathour.

Hardik
played
purely
as
batter
against
Pakistan
but
failed
to
live
up
to
the
expectations,
scoring
just
11
off
eight
balls.
Hardik’s
inclusion
in
the
T20
World
Cup
squad
has
raised
a
few
eyebrows
because
of
his
fitness
concerns,
which
forced
India
to
make
a
change
in
their
15-member
squad
with
reserve
player
Shardul
Thakur
swapping
places
with
Axar
Patel.

Ahead
of
the
Pakistan
game,
skipper
Virat
Kohli
had
said
that
he
expects
Hardik
to
bowl
at
least
two
overs
at
some
stage
during
the
tournament.