'Even he won’t......' - Ashish Nehra on whether Hardik Pandya can bowl 10 overs in ODIs

Hardik Pandya has had a stellar time since IPL 2022. In the 15th IPL season, which saw him make a comeback at the competitive level after last year's T20 World Cup, Hardik returned with his best-ever tally as a batter (487 runs) and claimed eight scalps, including a match-winning three-fer in the season-finale as Gujarat Titans (GT) won their maiden championship on debut.

Hardik's stocks rose considerably after leading Gujarat to a historic title as captain. Making a comeback for India in the home T20Is versus South Africa, the all-rounder fulfilled both roles and was also Rishabh Pant's deputy. Further, he was appointed as the Indian captain during the second-stringed side's twinT20Is versus Ireland, in Dublin, which Men in Blue won 2-0. In the India-England T20Is, the 28-year-old scored his maiden fifty in the format. Hence, he is on a roll, however, question marks remain on his ability to bowl his full quota of overs in ODIs. So far, he has bowled regularly in T20Is, nonetheless, it remains to be seen if he can complete his full overs in the 50-over format.

In this regard, Hardik-led Gujarat franchise's head coach Ashish Nehra made an interesting remark. "Even Hardik won’t be able to answer that since you can plan but things don’t always fall into place. But so far so good. Hardik can be in any white ball team solely as a batter. On top of that, if he bowls, it will be a bonus. But you can’t keep him as your fifth bowler in T20 or 50 overs. He can only be your sixth bowler," Nehra was quoted as saying by Telegraph India.

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The 2011 ODI World Cup winner furtheradded, "But looking at his fitness, you have to build it up slowly. He will not be going to the West Indies for ODIs, which is good in a way. When you are an out-and-out fast bowler, you don’t have a choice. You have to bowl, you have to be fit... But it’s not the case with Hardik. He has been doing well during the last 2-3 months."

Hardik bowled only four overs, conceding 22runs and being wicketless, in India's ODI series opener versus hosts England at The Oval, London. He is already among wickets in the ongoing second and penultimate ODI, on Thursday (July 14) at Lord's, and will slowly aim to regularly finish his full quota of overs in white-ball formats.