IND vs SA 2022 | India will have a problem with sixth bowler due to Hardik Pandya's unavailability, remarks Wasim Jaffer

India will lock horns against South Africa in a three-match T20I series starting on Wednesday. Hardik Pandya and Deepak Hooda have been ruled out of the series. Hooda will miss out on the series due to a back injury and Shreyas Iyer has been named as his replacement. Hardik is currently at National Cricket Academy(NCA) in Bangalore for conditioning-related work. 

Sharing his views ahead of the series, Wasim Jaffer stated the lack of a sixth bowling option will be a problem for India. 

“In this series, India will have a problem with a sixth bowler as we don’t have Hardik Pandya, we don’t have Deepak Hooda. That is going to be a worry for Rohit Sharma to handle those five bowlers,” Jaffer stated, quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

“India should pick Arshdeep Singh in the 1st T20I purely because India’s problem lies with death bowling. Arshdeep coming in might help Harshal Patel to bowl in the middle overs. We all know Arshdeep can bowl really well at the death.” 

Harshal Patel’s form has been a worrisome factor of late. He has been conceding runs in death overs in the Australia series. Jaffer has advised the Indian pacer to put more effort while bowling slower deliveries. 

“He has got the variations, he has really good slower balls. He has got really good Yorkers as well and he bowls at a decent pace. He needs to put in more effort while bowling slower deliveries. Sometimes, batters tend to wait for those deliveries knowing that it’s his go-to ball," he explained.