Sunil Gavaskar makes bold claim about Hardik Pandya's participation in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022

The ICC T20 World Cup 2022 is all set to take place in Australia in October. After India's early exit during the 2021 edition, the men in blue would want to set things right this time around. The major concern during the previous T20 WC in UAE was Hardik Pandya's fitness.

Although he was in the squad, he wasn't regularly bowling due to his fitness concerns. Thus, the all-rounder was sidelined after the ICC trophy. He was at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in order to restore his peak, and proved himself fit as well. As a matter of fact, Pandya was seen bowling during Gujarat's opening game against Lucknow.

Thus, Sunil Gavaskar recently went on to make a bold statement about the all-rounder. According to him, Pandya would be an automatic choice for the ICC T20 WC 2022 if he starts to regularly bowl well. While speaking on Star Sports ahead of Gujarat's game against Lucknow, he said that the entire cricketing fraternity will be looking forward to watching the aggressive all-rounder bowl.

"Whether Hardik Pandya will bowl, how many overs he will bowl, will also be something which not just the Gujarat Titans, but the entire cricketing fraternity will be looking forward to. Because if he starts to bowl and bowl well, with his batting ability, make no mistake, he will become an automatic selection for the World T20," said Sunil Gavaskar

During the game, Pandya didn't disappoint his fans as he bowled his full quota of four overs. He gave 37 runs in his four overs. That's wasn't it as he ended up promoting himself to four when Gujarat were chasing the total in the second innings.

He was dismissed after scoring 33 from 28 balls. While he wasn't at his best, he looked in good nick for starters. Thus, it will be exciting to watch him perform in this edition of the Indian T20 league. If he does indeed start bowling his full quota of four overs regularly, then he would certainly make a comeback to the Indian team.