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Xtra Time Web Desk: Team India's ace all rounder Hardik Pandya is focused to bowl regularly during the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup matches. Pandya has not been bowling regularly because of a lower back issue that has been troubling him since the 2019 Asia Cup. It has been the primary reason that the selectors decided to keep him away from the longer format. He was not included for the ICC World Test Championship Final and also the five match test tour against England.

"I started bowling in the IPL and my focus is on the World Cup," Pandya told TOI Sportscast.

He added, "I want to make sure that I will be able to bowl in all the games at the [T20] World Cup. I am just trying to be smart and make sure that I don't miss that. On the bowling front, what matters is how fit I am. Even after my surgery, I didn't drop my pace. I was not able to drop my control. My bowling is related to my fitness. The fitter I get, the better it comes out. As a fast-bowling allrounder, I tend to get injuries. It is bound to happen and I am okay with it."

Hardik didn't bowl at all in the seven matches he played for the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2020 before it got suspended because of multiple COVID-19 cases among the franchises. However, he bowled a nine-over burst in the third and final ODI against England in March. In the five T20Is, he bowled a total of 17 overs with an economy rate of under seven runs per over. Even during the last IPL, he played solely as a specialist batter.

"For India, I have realised that my bowling brings a lot of difference because the balance changes," Pandya said. "In IPL, I am lucky to have a franchise where there is so much love that I was able to pick my batting there and make sure that for India, I am able to be at my best. I have to make sure I am fit to be able to bowl and if I bowl, that brings balance to the side."

As of now, the Baroda all rounder is focusing on the tour to Sri Lanka where India will play three ODIs and T20Is.