Hardik Pandya, the out of favour India all-rounder, has decided to skip Vijay Hazare Trophy (National One Dayers) starting across the country from Wednesday as he is undergoing an extensive rehabilitation program in order to regain his bowling fitness.
According to reports, Hardik Pandya is all set to announce his retirement from Test cricket due to his back injuries that have kept him out of bowling action in recent years. Recently, it was reported that Hardik Pandya had asked the selectors to not consider him for the India tour of South Africa.
Hardik Pandya Is Currently Doing Rehabilitation To Regain Bowling Fitness And Decides To Skip Vijay Hazare Trophy
The back injury also kept him away from the Test team since 2018. Hardik Pandya has scored 532 runs and has scalped 17 wickets from 11 Test matches for India. Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya will continue to work on his fitness as the 28-year-old is set to skip the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 tournament. The Indian international represents Baroda in the domestic competition.
“The Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) had sent an e-mail to Hardik enquiring about his availability for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He has rarely played for Baroda in the last three years. However he gave a one-line reply that he is currently doing rehab in Mumbai,” a senior official privy to developments in BCA said on conditions of anonymity.
Asked what is the injury he is carrying at the moment, the official said: “Even the BCA doesn’t know. It is understood that he is trying to do some strength and conditioning module for his back which is no longer in best of shape post-surgery in 2019,” the source revealed.
The BCCI official informed that Hardik Pandya’s elder brother Krunal Pandya had joined Baroda’s pre-Hazare camp for a week after he was instructed by the state board that attending the camp is mandatory for being part of the final squad. Baroda Cricket Association had told the senior Pandya to be a part of camp and he adhered to the rules.
“BCA told Krunal that he can’t just land up during tournaments and he has to be a part of the camp. Then he came and trained with the team for a week,” the source said.
If Hardik Pandya doesn’t play the domestic tournaments, he will not be considered for a comeback in the Indian side for the white-ball tournaments.
“The current national selection committee has told all the players that all those who are not in the India squad should go back and play domestic cricket — Hazare and Ranji Trophy,” the source added.
The junior Pandya is understandably not keen on playing Test cricket anymore in order to prolong his career and will concentrate primarily on T20s and ODIs and for that, he needs to start bowling regularly. While he is doing his rehab in Mumbai, he would ultimately need to go to the NCA and prove his fitness in front of the coaches over there before he is considered for national selection.
Venkatesh Iyer May Be Considered In ODIs In South Africa Tour
There was a time when Indian players used to procure fitness certificates from NCA but that culture was changed after the erstwhile Director of Cricket Rahul Dravid took charge.
Rahul Dravid made it mandatory for every player to come to NCA, appear for all the necessary fitness tests in front of the coaches, trainers, and physios, after which only they are given the go-ahead to play matches. Rahul Dravid is currently the Indian team’s head coach and VVS Laxman may be roped as NCA head.
A case in point was Shreyas Iyer, who had to be in NCA for a week to get the green light to play in the IPL 2021. India will be playing three ODIs in South Africa from January 19 and even if the team is selected at a later date (allowing the white ball specialists to enter the bubble later), Hardik Pandya will not be picked if he doesn’t bowl.
It is understood that BCCI usually for overseas tours procures visas for more than 35 to 40 players for the sake of convenience. Venkatesh Iyer, who is being seen as Hardik Pandya’s potential future replacement, could be picked for the ODIs in order to add variety and also have that sixth bowler option.
Venkatesh Iyer’s IPL salary has shot up 40 times. In the 2021 auction, Kolkata Knight Riders bought the allrounder for his base price of INR 20 lakh. On Tuesday, Venkatesh Iyer, who made his India debut in November, was retained by Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 8 crore for IPL 2022. The all-rounder played all 3 T20Is at home against 2021 T20I WC runners up New Zealand and scored 36 runs and picked a solitary scalp.