India will be playing back-to-back World Test Championship (WTC) final in England on June 7. Notably, this time they will have a familiar opponent, Australia, last time in 2021 — it was New Zealand when they faced defeat by 8 wickets. Team India qualified for the WTC 2023 after their win in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2023, by 2-1, and the Black Caps won the Test series against Sri Lanka.
Hardik Pandya has been a prominent player for Men in Blue in limited-overs cricket, with a decent performance from the last year, Pandya is now the Vice-Captain for Asian Giants in ODI and T20I, but it is not a similar case in Test cricket for the star all-rounder, the 29-year-old last played the longer format of the game in 2018.
Indian ace spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin thinks Pandya made a genuine statement that it is not ethically good that he takes someone’s place in the playing XI for WTC Final.
The star all-rounder statement on his return to the side for WTC Final-
“No. I am ethically very strong person. I haven’t done 10% to reach there. I am not even a part of 1%. So me coming there and taking someone’s place will ethically not go well.
“If I want to play Test cricket, I’ll go through the grind and earn my spot. Hence, for that reason I will not be available for the WTC final or future test series until I feel that I have earned my spot,” said Pandya.
Hardik Pandya has not played Test cricket for India since September 2018, an India tour of England, and has been limited to only playing white-ball cricket due to constant back injuries, but after his return to limited-overs cricket for Team India, especially after Gujarat Titans (GT) lifted the IPL title last year, the debate has erupted that his return is due for the longer format of the game, and with English conditions, he is highly anticipated to return as a pace bowling all-rounder in playing XI.
Ashwin opinion on Hardik not considering himself for the WTC 2023 Final-
“We have reached the WTC final and many felt that Hardik Pandya must return to the Test side. Of course, those opinions were great since Hardik has done well in England with the limited Tests he has played there.
“But Hardik has said that it won’t do justice and, ‘I will come back when I feel it’s the right time to play Test cricket and I haven’t even played one percent role in qualifying for the finals’. This is a proper statement to the cricket fraternity and to the entire world by Hardik Pandya,” said the ace off-spinner.
R. Ashwin is currently preparing for the upcoming IPL edition, which is set to kick off on 31st March 2023. Ashwin was retained by its previous franchise in the last edition, Rajasthan Royals (RR) for IPL 16, however, it will crucial if the veteran spinner will find his name in the playing XI of WTC Final considering English conditions.
W ??❤️ pic.twitter.com/VlqcPUBgzX
— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) March 17, 2023
“We often tend to blame others for our failures. We believe in superstitions or find other reasons because at the end of the day, we are disappointed. But Hardik has accepted that he isn’t eligible to play the Test at the moment. That is a big statement coming from a player- like him. Hats off to Hardik Pandya,” concluded the 36-year-old regarding Pandya’s statement on his YouTube channel.
Although Hardik is currently playing in the third ODI between India and Australia (IND VS AUS) at Chennai, and he also captained team India in the absence of Rohit Sharma in the first game at Mumbai, in a series decider game at Chennai, as it is 1-1 in three ODI series, Aussies won the toss and is batting first.