Is it the beginning of the end for Hardik Pandya in Tests for India?
When the much-anticipated squad of India for the World Test Championship and the subsequent Test series for England was declared by the BCCI, it had both, some surprising inclusions as well as exclusions. Even before the squad announcement, the top-most speculation about the selection dilemmas was revolving around one name: Hardik Pandya. However, as it turned out, he was excluded from the squad.
The 27-year-old made his Test debut for India in July 2017 against Sri Lanka and has featured in 11 Test fixtures so far, having scored 532 runs at an average of 31.3 and strike rate of 73.9. With the ball, he has 17 Test scalps under his belt at an economy rate of 3.38 and an average of 31.1.
Falling out of the fold
One of the major reasons behind Pandya being a valuable asset to the Indian team is his role of being a seam-bowling all-rounder, a rare combination in modern-day cricket and even more so when looked at from India’s perspective.
Moreover, given the nature of pitches in England, where the seamers find enough assistance both off the surface and in the air, his inclusion was all the more expected as he is the only seam all-rounder present with India currently. However, it has come to light that the selectors ignored him because of the persistent back issues that prevent him to bear the burden of bowling long spells, something which is imperative in Test Cricket.
Even as his contribution with the bat matters, his inclusion in the team for only that role upsets the team balance, which is the primary reason behind him not being included. What is more surprising is the fact that India’s recent one was a jumbo squad, which has 20 members in all (selected keeping in mind any contingency due to Covid-19 or injuries).
Having missed out from an enlarged squad certainly raises some questions regarding what does the future hold for the once billed as a reliable all-rounder for India in all the formats. Notably, Hardik’s last Test outing for India came against England in August 2018, while for quite some time now, he has bowled sporadically in white-ball cricket, for both his IPL franchise Mumbai Indians and Indian team, but the longest format needs him to be much more endurable.
To answer what the future holds for him, a BCCI source revealed frankly that he “is still not in a position to bowl,” and admitted that the “experiment of selectors to keep him during England and prepare him with bowling workload has failed miserably. He will henceforth not be considered for Test cricket.”
Going by that, even if India’s reliable all-rounder’s Test career is not over, as Akash Chopra rightly pointed out, “Hardik Pandya may not be seen in Test cricket for a long while.”
