If there would be one person, who would want to desperately get IPL 2016 out of his mind, it would surely be Hardik Pandya. Things have changed quite dramatically for the seam bowling all-rounder, as just a couple of months ago; he was a key member of the Indian T20I side during important assignments such as the series against Australia, the Asia Cup and the World T20.
However, this edition of the IPL was just a nightmare for Pandya. All-rounder was disastrous with the bat for the Mumbai Indians, and his numbers with the ball to depict a poor tale of him. Due to having such a disastrous IPL season, Pandya was not named in India’s squad for the upcoming limited-overs tour of Zimbabwe.
Like Pandya, spin bowling allrounder Pawan Negi too followed a similar case and a poor IPL has robbed him of an India berth as well. This was confirmed by a source in close proximity to the Indian selection panel to ESPN Cricinfo recently.
“The IPL is definitely one of our premier domestic tournaments,” the source said. “Fourteen matches is a pretty good opportunity to showcase a player’s talent. One thing is for sure – someone who is doing exceptionally well at that stage will get picked and lack of form will also be a reason for a player being excluded.”
The source went on to add about Hardik Pandya and said that the all-rounder was in desperate need of a break. “I feel Hardik has got what it takes to be a good allrounder but I think he needs some space to think,” he said. “The issue is he is not in form right now and it will be undue pressure on him if he still continues. He has not been performing in 14 games, for almost 45-50 days. Mentally also, he might have been drained had he been asked to pull up his socks and get ready for an international call.”