Hardik Pandya.
Hardik Pandya. Image Credit: X

With India touring Australia for the five-match Test series towards the end of the year, they need one of their pace bowling all-rounders to make a huge contribution. But the issue is that Hardik Pandya hasn’t been in the red-ball set-up for a long time, while Shardul Thakur, who has been one of the pillars of the Blue Brigade in overseas games, has been recovering from his recent surgery.

On away Tests to the pace bowling conditions of Australia, England, South Africa, or New Zealand, it always becomes an advantage to the team if they can go with one of their fast bowling all-rounders, who can help the other three pacers in sharing the workload. But, the body of Hardik Pandya hasn’t helped him in this course for a long time.

Given India has been going with Shardul on most of these occasions, they hardly thought of preparing someone, who could replace him. Now, with the tour down under, they need to look for different aspects to fill that void in the playing eleven.

Hardik Pandya practices with the red-ball three months before Australia trip

One of the biggest reasons for India to clinch their second title in the T20 World Cup in 2024 was the all-round performance of the Gujarat-born, who contributed 144 runs in six innings at a strike rate of over 150 with the bat, besides picking up 11 wickets with the ball at an economy of just under eight.

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Hardik Pandya hasn’t been consistent in the longest format of the game, having collected 532 runs in 11 games at an average of 31.29 and a strike rate of over 70, celebrating four half-centuries and one century. With the red-ball cherry, he has also grabbed 17 wickets at an average of around 30.

However, his last game for the national side in the five-day format was six years ago against England. The last of his 29 first-class games came in December 2018 against Mumbai. One of the reasons for that has been the desire of the selectors to keep the veteran fit and refreshed for their white-ball fixtures of the game.

“We’ve been talking about it since Kapil Dev’s days that we don’t have a fast-bowling all-rounder. If we don’t have one, we don’t have one.” On the eve of India’s first Test against Bangladesh in Chennai, their head coach, Gautam Gambhir, reflected on the need for a pace-bowling all-rounder.

However, with five tests coming in the winter, India could enjoy a little service of Hardik Pandya in the longest format of the game for a short stint. The 30-year-old has started his practice with the red ball as he has shared videos of batting and bowling in the nets. It has sparked speculations among fans whether he could participate in one of the red-ball games at home against New Zealand.

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However, India also needs to be careful not to injure him and sell him under the river, just a couple of months from that period to the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025, in which the all-rounder will have a bigger role to play in the balance of the ODI side.

India has always been blessed with a huge list of spin-bowling all-rounders. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have carried the burden of the side for a long time, especially at home, while in the past, they used to have Harbhajan Singh. Axar Patel has done well in whatever chances he has got but, Hardik Pandya will help the national side to plan better for an overseas Test win.