Premier fast-bowling allrounder Hardik Pandya will be reconsidered for India selection only when he regains full fitness and is able to resume bowling at full-tilt, said chairman of All-India Senior-Selection Committee Chetan Sharma on February 19.
Sharma cleared the air on Pandya’s case and his prolonged absence from the top-level game, strongly hinting that he is dropped and not exactly rested or given time to continue rehab work from the effects of back surgery.
Pandya hasn’t played for India since the end of the T20 World Cup in November 2021. He has since missed the home series against New Zealand and West Indies, either side of the tour of South Africa. The allrounder is also unselected for the T20Is and Tests against Sri Lanka.
Appointed captain of Gujarat Titans for the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League, 28-year-old is expected to make his return to competitive cricket via the biggest T20 league in the world in April-May. It is hoped that by then, Pandya will be able to regain proper fitness and make a strong comeback on the field.
“Definitely, Hardik was a very important part of the Indian team. But now after the injuries, we’ll say that until he isn’t 100% fit, until we get that information that he’s ready to go, is bowling and is match fit… when that comes in front of us then definitely he’s an important player and we’ll consider him immediately.”
Sharma told media, as per The New Indian Express.
The selectors seem to have run out of patience a little bit with Pandya, who went through surgery in October 2019 for a back injury that he picked up while playing the Asia Cup 2018. It has been over two years since, but he hasn’t managed to regain his bowling fitness and has bowled rarely and without operating at full-tilt for India.
With Pandya’s absence in this period coinciding with a knee injury and extended rehab for another premier allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, the Indian team have had to spread the net wider in search of ideal replacements.
The likes of Venkatesh Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Washington Sundar and Deepak Hooda have been picked by India in this phase to balance their XIs in white-ball cricket. Jadeja, thankfully, is on his way back to the park for India, selected for the entire home series against Sri Lanka.
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