Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri believes that Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya cannot play the longer format of the game, as it will take a lot of toil on his body. The 29-year-old has not played Test cricket since the tour of England in 2018 owing to fitness issues.
Hardik Pandya has played 11 Test matches for India and has been out of the Indian Test team owing to his injury problems. Pandya has 532 runs and 17 wickets to his name in the red-ball format of the game but has not played in the traditional format of the game since September 2018.
Speaking to The Week, Indian World Cup winner Ravi Shastri feels that Hardik Pandya cannot cope with the red ball format of the game and believes that he can be India’s skipper in a limited-over format if he can maintain his fitness.
“His body cannot cope with Test cricket. Let’s be very clear about that. After the World Cup, if his body is fit enough, he should take over the captaincy in white-ball cricket,” Ravi Shastri said
The Indian all-rounder made his debut in Tests during the tour of Sri Lanka in July 2017 and became an important member of the team soon. The all-rounder looked like an indispensable member of India’s Test team especially on the overseas tour before injuries derailed his Test career.
Pandya is the likely candidate to replace the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma as the Indian skipper in white-ball cricket. The Indian all-rounder has shown the potential to lead India in the limited opportunities for Men in Blue. The experienced Indian all-rounder has been backed by several experts and fans to become India’s full-time limited-overs captain once Rohit Sharma’s reign comes to an end.
There Are Seniors Ready To Be Phased Out And There Are Youngsters Are Ready – Ravi Shastri
Ravi Shastri believes that it is the right time to bring in new blood in the T20 format of the game, also few names players in ODI Cricket and Test Cricket and reckons that the IPL should not be the criteria to get selected in the Indian test squad as the selectors need to find out more options for the longer format of the game based on their temperament in the longer format of the game.
“There are seniors ready to be phased out and there are youngsters ready. No question about it when it comes to T20 cricket. Lesser in 50-over cricket and even fewer in Tests,” he added.
“Because of the IPL, you see an abundance of high-quality, young, white-ball players. But, one should not get carried away by that and think they should be automatic red-ball choices. No, I would rather see the red-ball record. I would sit with the selectors and find out more about who the [red-ball performances] were against, in what conditions, what are their strengths, what is the temperament of the bloke like,” Ravi Shastri added
India team management and selectors came under the scanner following their team selection for the longer format of the game, as they ignored consistent performers like Sarfaraz Khan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, and Baba Indrajith in the squad for the West Indies tour.