Hardik Pandya has been playing for Mumbai Indians since IPL 2015. The all-rounder has been one of the top performers for the Indian team as well but is struggling with injuries at the moment. 

Surprisingly, The Baroda born player was not retained by Mumbai Indians for the IPL 2022. Krunal Pandya the brother of Hardik Pandya was not retained either. 

Hardik Pandya’s statement after parting ways with Mumbai Indians :

“They say all good things must end but Mumbai Indians will remain in my heart forever. I will carry these moments with me for the rest of my life.”

Hardik Pandya’s bowling fitness has been a talking point over the last couple of years for the Indian fans and continues to be. His bowling has been a concern for the national team as well. 

The right-hander has not bowled in the last two seasons of IPL due to the back injury that he picked up in the last Asia cup. He rarely bowled in the T20 World Cup 2021, UAE.

According to a report, The five time champions did not retain the all-rounder as he was unable to bowl in any form of the game. He did not bowl for Mumbai Indians in the last couple of seasons and the Franchise was not pleased with it.

Gujarat Titans’ head coach Ashish Nehra gives update on Hardik Pandya’s bowling :

Nehra said

“If he bowls, it’s great. But to be very honest, we are more than happy to have Hardik Pandya as a pure batsman. I don’t see any T20 team in the world, not talking just about the IPL, where Hardik doesn’t fit as a batsman. Whatever number he bats, be it 4 or 5 or 6. Yes, there is always speculation around his bowling. If he can bowl for Gujarat Titans, that will be great. But yes, if he is only batting fit, I will be happy with Hardik Pandya.”

The all-rounder will try to prove his fitness for the T20 World Cup in the upcoming season of Indian Premier League. He is set to lead Gujarat Titans in the season. 

Hardik heading to NCA before IPL 

Hardik Pandya will be attending the BCCI conducted NCA camp in Bangalore for assessing the player's fitness before IPL 2022. (Reported by Cricbuzz).

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 7, 2022

Hardik Pandya to attend the camp at NCA along with the white-ball specialist at Bangalore. (Source – Cricbuzz)

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 7, 2022

The all-rounder to join pre-IPL fitness camp at BCA 

Hardik Pandya to attend the camp at NCA along with the white-ball specialist at Bangalore. (Source – Cricbuzz)

— Cricket Updates (@cricketupdate89) March 7, 2022

The T20 cricket brings lots of entertainment with lots of fours and sixes around the ground. This shorter format of the game is tilted more towards the favor of batsmen. The bowlers never feel relief or can’t take a breath as they have only four overs to make an impact in this game. There are lots of new cricket shots coming and with the conditions favoring the batsmen more, it is very difficult to deliver consistent performance for bowlers in T20 cricket. 

The Indian Premier League has a tremendous lot of batsmen who are making new records every single year. In this league, bowlers are using different variations in their bowling and still go for some runs. Bowlers have to deliver dominating spells, especially in powerplay and death overs. Over the years, many bowlers have conceded lots of runs in their four overs of the game. In this article, we will discuss the top five most expensive spells in IPL history. 

5). Sandeep Sharma (1/65 vs Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Sandeep Sharma is an experienced bowler for Punjab Kings over the years. cany swing the new ball and make an impact in the powerplay overs. However, the left-arm pacer conceded 65 runs in his four overs against Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2014. 

While bowling his first two overs, Sandeep Sharma started brilliantly and conceded just 13 runs in batting powerplay. In his third over of the spell, the left-arm pacer went for 26 runs against Shikhar Dhawan. In the last over of his spell, Sandeep conceded the same number of runs and finished the spell with one wicket for 65 runs in his four overs. 

4). Umesh Yadav (0/65 vs Royal Challengers Bangalore) 

Umesh Yadav is known for his swing bowling with the new ball. The right-arm pacer was part of Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2013. In the league game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Umesh Yadav conceded 65 runs in his four overs quota and failed to grab any wicket of opposition. 

In his first two overs of the spell, Umesh Yadav conceded 18 runs. However, in his second spell, Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers went behind him as the Vidarbha-born bowler 47 runs in his next two overs. Umesh Yadav went for 23 and 24 runs in his last two overs respectively and finished the spell with none for 65. 

3). Ishant Sharma (0/66 vs Chennai Super Kings) 

Ishant Sharma is ranked third in this list of the top five most expensive spells in IPL history. Ishant Sharma is always in talks with his expensive bowling in the shorter format of the game. He was a part of Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2013 where he conceded 66 runs against Chennai Super Kings. 

Having a partner like Dale Steyn, Ishant Sharma bowled the second over of innings for SRH. In this over, Murli Vijay went behind him and smashed three sixes against Ishant Sharma. Apart from that, in his last over of the spell Ishant Sharma conceded 25 runs and finished the spell with zero wickets for 66 runs. Suresh Raina scored four fours and one six in this last over to Ishant Sharma. 

2). Mujeeb Ur Rahman (0/66 vs Sunrisers Hyderabad) 

The Afghanistan spin bowler, Mujeeb Ur Rahman is the second player on this list. Mujeeb Ur Rahman was part of Punjab Kings in IPL 2019. Before this, Mujeeb Ur Rahman had performed brilliantly in this format and got many wickets for his franchise. However, in this game against Chennai Super Kings, Mujeeb Ur Rahman conceded 66 runs and failed to take any wicket. 

The spin all-rounder was in action during the second over where he went for 10 runs. In his second over of the inning, David Warner went hard behind him and scored 18 runs against Mujeeb Ur Rahman. In the second half of his spell, Kane Williamson and Mohammad Nabi scored runs against Mujeeb as he finished his spell with figures of no wickets for 66 runs. 

1). Basil Thampi (0/70 vs Royal Challengers Bangalore) 

Basil Thampi ranked number one as he bowled the most expensive spell in IPL history. Basil Thampi was part of Sunrisers Hyderabad where he went for 70 runs against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2018 edition of the Indian Premier League. 

In his first over of the inning, Moeen Ali went behind him and smashed two sixes. AB De Villiers also showed no mercy against this Indian pace bowler and scored 18 runs in his second over of the inning. However, skipper Kane Williamson showed trust in him and gave him a chance to complete his four overs in this match. But the luck was against this young pace bowler as he finished his quota with 70 for no wicket in this game.

It was 2 days back, When an devastating news for the Cricket world came out. Fox, Australia reported the demise of Shane Warne due to a heart attack. 

The news shook the entire cricketing Fraternity as it was completely unexpected. Warne was just 52 years old. 

The leg spinner played 145 test matches for Australia and took record breaking number of 708 wickets. He played a whopping number of 195 One Day Internationals for Australia taking 293 wickets. 

Warne was the second leading wicket taker in the history of test cricket with 708 wickets and is considered to be one of the greatest cricketers to play the game. 

Just 10 days before, Warne tweets mentioning that he is planning to get in shape again by July 2022. Warne shared a shirtless picture of himself in the tweet. 

Warne tweeted “Operation shred has started (10 days in) & the goal by July is to get back to this shape from a few years ago ! Let’s go ???????????????? #heathy #fitness #feelgoodfriday”

Unfortunately, The cricketing world lost a big name and an influential figure. The loss felt personal to every cricket fan. 

Here’s Shane Warne’s tweet from 10 days before his demise :

Operation shred has started (10 days in) & the goal by July is to get back to this shape from a few years ago ! Let’s go ???????????????? #heathy #fitness #feelgoodfriday pic.twitter.com/EokgT2Hyhz

— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) February 28, 2022

Ricky Ponting Breaks Down

Ricky Ponting breaks down in tears as he pays tribute to his teammate The Legendary Shane Warne. pic.twitter.com/KUAonTwzZT

— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) March 6, 2022

Warne made leg-spin cool

Shane Warne was first to 700 Test wickets, an unfathomable milestone. But judging Warne on stats is like counting how many words Shakespeare wrote. It misses the point. He redefined his art. He made legspin cool. He changed the game. The most influential cricketer of my lifetime.

— Brydon Coverdale (@brydoncoverdale) March 4, 2022

Virat Kohl’s reaction

"Life is fickle and unpredictable. I stand here in disbelief and shock."@imVkohli pays his tributes to Shane Warne. pic.twitter.com/jwN1qYRDxj

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 5, 2022

Rohit Sharma’s reaction

"Absolutely devastated to hear the news of Shane Warne passing away. It's a huge huge loss in our cricketing world. Condolences to his family. His three children and the loved ones."

Captain @ImRo45 pays tribute to Shane Warne. pic.twitter.com/LrRR7kJeU5

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 5, 2022

Smriti Mandhana’s reaction

Tragic to hear about it. One of the greatest to ever play the game. RIP Shane Warne ????

— Smriti Mandhana (@mandhana_smriti) March 4, 2022

Atherton’s reaction

Totally stunned by the news today, which I found out on a plane where I wrote this; loved playing against SKW and thoroughly enjoyed his company in the commentary box. A champion. What a loss. https://t.co/XIZ3EWaE3l

— Mike atherton (@Athersmike) March 4, 2022

One of the greatest cricketers

Shane Warne was the only one of Wisden’s 5 greatest cricketers of 20th Century not to be knighted. He wasn’t Mother Teresa but if Gavin bloody Williamson can get a gong then so should Warnie, posthumously, for services to cricket & charity. Make it happen @BorisJohnson #SirShane pic.twitter.com/gZbW7u3N1D

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) March 5, 2022

Scenes outside MCG

Flowers and memorabilia have been placed by fans at the statue of Shane Warne outside the MCG to honour the legspin legend ???? pic.twitter.com/Sn5GeEoRBE

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) March 5, 2022

Someone placed an old red ball with "thank you <3" next to the flowers underneath Shane Warne's statue outside MCG. Poignant, whoever did it. Almost as if a weary red ball is thanking the man himself.

(AFP Photo)#ShaneWarne pic.twitter.com/2shgqyHSea

— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) March 5, 2022

The icon

Cannot fully come to terms with the news of his passing!
Shane Warne will not be forgotten for the sports icon he was, is and always will be! #RIPShaneWarne ???????? pic.twitter.com/AyksoxSWKz

— Venkatesh Daggubati (@VenkyMama) March 5, 2022