Gautam Gambhir (In Circle) & Hardik Pandya & Gautam Gambhir (Source: AFP Photos)More often than not, the frequent injuries of Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah, among others, leave Team India in tough situations while announcing the squad for any particular event or bilateral series.Finally, India head coach Gautam Gambhir addressed the subject, highlighting what could potentially happen if Bumrah and Hardik keep getting injured frequently before World Cup 2027.Gautam Gambhir Underlines Hardik Pandya’s ValueIn an interview on JioHotstar, Gambhir highlighted what both Hardik and Bumrah bring to the table, and what they can achieve together in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, where the World Cup 2027 will be held.However, at the same time, Gambhir emphasised Hardik’s long-standing injury concerns, and thus, little game time before making it to India’s World Cup 2027 squad would make only his life difficult as 'half-cooked'."Whether it's Hardik, whether it's Jasprit Bumrah, they are going to be extremely important for us in [southern] Africa. Very few teams have players [like Hardik] who can bowl ten overs and give you runs from No. 6 or No. 7, that too with such impact. So the focus for us - especially for Hardik, who needs game time as well; he hasn't played a lot of cricket since the IPL - if we talk about 50-over cricket, if we want to play him, he might be short of cricket," Gambhir said in an interview on JioHotstar.Also Read: Hardik Pandya 2.0 At 2027 World Cup: All-Rounders India Have In The Pool"If he plays a little bit of T20 cricket and then gets to one-day cricket, because game time going into the World Cup is going to be extremely, extremely important. You can't go to the World Cup half-cooked. So you must have enough game time and your rhythm should be good enough, because there are no ifs and buts when it comes to a World Cup. There are no chances to make mistakes," he added.Gambhir Explains Why Fit Jasprit Bumrah Is Crucial For IndiaFurthermore, Gambhir spoke solely about Bumrah and his frequent injury setbacks. The speedster, arguably India’s most decorated fast bowler of all time, would need to be managed properly in order to keep him fit for World Cup 2027, as Gambhir pointed out.Moreover, Gambhir mentioned how T20I cricket, in between ODIs and Tests, left them be aware of workload management, and thus, a same group of players can’t play together enough to prep themselves for World Cup 2027."The same is with Jassi (Bumrah) as well. With him, too, the thought process is how much one-day cricket we can make him play. Plus Test cricket is equally important. So it is going to be critical to figure out how much workload and game time is ideal," Gambhir stated."If those 11 or 15 don't play together enough, more than the combination, the confidence of the captain is more important. Sometimes, T20 cricket comes in between and sometime you just don't have the time you need, you can't play everyone you want because of the three formats," he concluded.When Will Bumrah, Hardik Next Be In Action?Bumrah has been picked in India’s squad for Asian Games 2026. Therefore, even though he missed out on playing against Japan recently, he might be there in India’s playing XI when they play the second quarter final of the competition on Monday (September 28).Hardik, on the other hand, has been included by the BCCI in India A squad against Australia A for One-Days. However, his participation, is depending on the subject to fitness.The One-Day matches between India A and Australia A will get underway on October 6. Also Read: Virat Kohli's Childhood Coach Rajkumar Sharma Gets Special Post
