India’s bowling coach, Morne Morkel, has allayed worries over Abhishek Sharma and Hardik Pandya’s fitness ahead of Sunday’s Asia Cup final against Pakistan in Dubai.
After dismissing Kusal Mendis for a first-ball duck in the opening over of Sri Lanka’s innings on Friday, Hardik hobbled off the pitch due to a strained left hamstring. For the rest of the innings, Hardik did not come back to the pitch.
At the news conference following the game, Morkel stated, “Hardik had cramps, he will be assessed tonight and tomorrow morning, and we’ll then take a call on that.” What India captain Suryakumar Yadav said at the post-match presentation was simply reiterated by the bowling coach.
Abhishek, however, was off the pitch for the whole second half of Sri Lanka’s innings. In the ninth over, Abhishek gripped onto his right thigh while jogging, indicating that he was uncomfortable. Since he hadn’t left the pitch before Varun Chakravarthy started to run in to bowl, he finally exited in the tenth over, just before a Pathum Nissanka six was declared dead ball.
Similar to Hardik, Abhishek was cooled and given pickle juice to help with his cramps for the remainder of the innings. At various stages, Jitesh Sharma, Shivam Dube, and Rinku Singh entered the game as substitute fielders. Even Tilak Varma was briefly absent from the pitch at one point, but he quickly returned following a break to rehydrate.
India has a much shorter turnaround time before they hit the field on Sunday because the Sri Lanka game is scheduled to end much later than expected due to the Super Over conclusion.
Morkel emphasised that the players must recuperate and skip Saturday’s practice.
“The key for the boys is to rest,” he stated. “They’ve already entered an ice bath. The recuperation began immediately following the game. Sleeping and staying off your feet are the greatest ways to recuperate. I hope they have a restful night’s sleep.
“The lads will have their own pool sessions scheduled. Before they prepare psychologically for the major clash on Sunday, they will then receive some massages. Playing strategically will be crucial because there is a short turnaround. There won’t be any training, for sure.
“Harshit and Arshdeep are X-factors.”
Morkel also discussed the difficulties that players like Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh encounter when they are asked to perform at a pivotal point in the competition. In India’s defence of 202 against Sri Lanka on Friday, the two produced a combined total of 2 for 100 of eight overs before an uneasy Arshdeep struck in the Super Over to complete the triumph.
“In our environment we want to move away from an excuse culture,” he stated. “We expect them to go out there and deliver on the effort they put in during training. Indeed, a lack of gaming time might occasionally be a factor. Nothing compares to game time, even if you bowl as many overs as you like in the nets.
“We expect the guys to deliver the kind of work we put in. The team is winning, and they are all X-factor players and actual match winners, even though things aren’t going their way right now.”
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