Hardik Pandya practicing with the red ball as he prepped for Bangladesh T20Is was a heartening sight for Indian team fans. However, Parthiv Patel, the former India keeper-batter, has silenced all hopes of Pandya returning to Test cricket.
Hardik Pandya, perhaps the premier Indian pace-bowling all-rounder and one of the biggest hopes for India since Kapil Dev, has not played Test cricket since 2018. That was the same year, Pandya suffered a serious back injury in Asia Cup and had to undergo surgery for the same.
Since his return in 2022, after a long rehab, Pandya has restricted himself to T20Is and ODIs. Pandya has one century and a fifer in 11 Tests that he has played, with his final outing coming against England.
Currently, Pandya is practicing for his return to cricket after being featured in Sri Lanka T20Is in July. He is expected to be part of the Indian T20I team for three matches against Bangladesh in October.
An image of Hardik Pandya became viral on social media networks. The image showed Hardik practicing with the red ball, raising immediate speculation about the all-rounder’s possible red-ball comeback.
“I’m not looking at Hardik Pandya in Tests”- Parthiv Patel
Hardik was not chosen for the ODI series against Sri Lanka in August of this year, with reports suggesting that the all-rounder may have to compete in domestic fifty-over events such as the Vijay Hazare Trophy to be considered for selection.
There was also a report that Hardik might return to first-class cricket during the 2017 Ranji Trophy season.
However, Parthiv Patel reported that Hardik was compelled to practice with the red ball because a white ball was not available. The former wicketkeeper-batsman stated that Hardik’s body would not tolerate multiple-day matches.
“I’m not looking at Hardik Pandya (in Tests). He was practicing with the red ball only because the white ball wasn’t available. I don’t think his body allows four-day and five-day matches. He has to play at least one first-class game (before being considered for selection in Tests), which is very unlikely,” Parthiv said on JioCinema.
Parthiv also remarked that India squandered an opportunity to give Yash Dayal his Test debut because it would be tough for the team to experiment with the lineup against New Zealand.
“The second Test was an opportunity for India to use Yash Dayal. And no, I’m not undermining Bangladesh, but if this Test match ends in a draw, it is very important to address that the next series will be against New Zealand, and then they won’t be in a position to experiment,” said the former wicketkeeper-batter.
The ongoing second Test between India and Bangladesh has been hampered by rain as play is yet to start on day two in Kanpur.
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