India all-rounder Hardik Pandya, has unfortunately become synonymous with injuries. The 30-year-old had picked up an injury during the World Cup, where he was expected to be back soon. But even after three months, Pandya is not back, and there is still uncertainty surrounding his comeback.
Pandya is an asset to the team when he is bowling full throttle, but that has been the biggest cause for his injuries. Former South Africa fast bowler Allan Donald feels, his action is such, that it will put a lot of burden on his body.
“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.”
On the other hand, Donald termed Jasprit Bumrah’s action completely unique, and the one which works for him well.
“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 10metres 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.”
