IPL 2021 | Hardik Pandya not bowling was more precautionary with his shoulder niggle, reveals Chris Lynn

IPL 2021 | Hardik Pandya not bowling was more precautionary with his shoulder niggle, reveals Chris Lynn

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Hardik Pandya didn't bowl for Mumbai against RCB

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IPLT20

Chris Lynn, who made his debut for MI, has speculated that Hardik Pandya not bowling was a more precautionary move from the franchise, with him suffering a shoulder niggle. Lynn also backed Rohit’s decision of going to Bumrah in the death, adding that their skills let them down on the night.

While Rohit Sharma felt that they were 20 runs short, the lack of a sixth bowling option had forced the Mumbai skipper to trust his spinners to bowl all their overs. On the night, that move, unfortunately, didn’t pay off, with Rahul Chahar conceding 43 runs as RCB took the game deep for a victory. On top of that, Hardik Pandya was unused with the ball and was even seen under-arming throws, which led to speculation of an apparent injury to the all-rounder.

Following the encounter, in the press conference, Mumbai’s debutant Chris Lynn revealed that Hardik Pandya not bowling was more precautionary than anything. However, Lynn did stress upon the fact that the all-rounder was suffering from some kind of a shoulder niggle, which prevented him from bowling a few overs on the tricky surface in Chennai.

“Not 100% sure but I think it is a shoulder niggle, it is more precautionary I guess. You don’t want to throw all your eggs in one basket, it is a tournament of 14 matches. Obviously, the physios and the support staff will treat him and keep him fit. He’s a great package with the bat but with the ball too, he makes a huge difference,” said Lynn in the post-match press conference. 

The Australian opener also admitted that the five-time champions missed a sixth bowling option on the night against RCB but added that it is key for them to adapt themselves to the Chennai wicket. 

“We missed that sixth bowling option today but it’s the early stages of the tournament. We have to adapt to this wicket, it is going to be tricky from a batting point of view. And if Hardik brings his confidence with the ball, he is going to bat well too,” added Lynn.

Alongside that, another point of discussion from the game was Rohit’s utilisation of Jasprit Bumrah. Having bowled the one over in the powerplay, Mumbai’s trump bowler was only brought back in the 13th over of the innings, with him bowling two in the death. While on the night, it turned out against Mumbai, Lynn insisted that it was not a tactical error from Rohit but an issue of skill, from the entire team as they couldn’t execute their plans right. 

“It’s a tricky one, Rohit has been a successful captain and we needed a wicket, so Bumrah was key for us in the back end of the innings. We found out that it was really hard to get runs in the death and to have Bumrah in the last few overs was key for us. It could have gone either way and also from the opposition point of view, knowing that Bumrah is going to bowl can cause a few issues. It wasn’t a tactical issue from us but an issue of skills, where we lost the game.”

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