Hardik Pandya received plenty of criticism after Team India's early exit from the T20 World Cup last year. Many fans and experts felt that the all-rounder wasn't fully fit which prevented him from bowling in the opener against Pakistan. The 28-year-old has been suffering from a back injury for quite some time which saw him play as a batter for most part of 2021. He also played solely as a batter for Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2021 but did bowl for India in two T20 World Cup matches, against Afghanistan and New Zealand. Speaking to cricket historian Boria Majumdar, Hardik revealed that he "wasn't supposed to bowl" and "was selected in the team as a batter".