The Indian bowling coach, Morne Morkel, has dismissed the fitness concerns over Hardik Pandya and Abhishek Sharma ahead of the summit clash of the Asia Cup 2025.
He said that Abhishek Sharma is fine, while Hardik will be assessed on Saturday ahead of the finals against Pakistan on Sunday.
“Hardik, I know we’ll assess sort of tonight and tomorrow morning and we’ll make a call on that. Abhishek is fine,” Morkel said after India won the Super Over. “Both of them were just struggling with cramps.”
Hardik Pandya who bowled one over in the first of the Sri Lanka innings, while Abhishek fielded for 9.2 overs before going off the field.
Abhishek Sharma who was in peak form in the batting scoring 61 runs off 31 balls, did not come out to bat during the Super Over, with Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav came out and finished the job.
With a late finish to his Super 4s against Sri Lanka and quick turnaround before the Sunday final, Morkel confirmed that there will be no training on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Pakistan have scheduled a practice session on saturday from 6-9 pm local time at the ICC Academy.
“The key for the boys is to rest,” said Morne Morkel. “They’re already all in the ice baths and the recovery sort of started straight away after the game. And the best way to recover is sleep and to stay off your feet. So hopefully they can all get a good night’s sleep tonight.”
“When they wake up tomorrow, I’m pretty sure there will be a pool session, an individual pool session for the guys organized. And then from there, it’s just getting a flush from the masseuses, getting massages, and getting themselves mentally ready for a big battle on Sunday.”
“Like I said, it’s a quick turnaround, so playing this smart is going to be key. But there will certainly be no training.”
“There will be individual pool sessions for the guys organised. Then some massages before they get mentally ready for the big battle on Sunday. It’s a quick turnaround, and playing smart is going to be the key. There will certainly be no training.”
Morne Morkel also opened upon the challenges Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana face while being called upton to deliver at a crucial stage in the competition.
“In our environment we want to move away from an excuse culture,” he said. “The effort they put in at training, we expect them to go out there and deliver. Yes, sometimes lack of game time is a factor. You can bowl as many overs as you like in the nets, but nothing beats game time,” added Morkel.
“The quality of work we put in, we expect the guys to deliver. At the moment, things aren’t happening for them but the team is winning, they’re all X-factor players and real match winners,” concluded Morne Morkel.
