Indian flamboyant allrounder Hardik Pandya was in stunning form in recent limited over cricket formats. The 27-years-old cricketer hammered two fifties in ODI cricket series and was also leading runs-scorer from India in this series. Also in T20I cricket series, he smashed a matching winning knock in the second T20I. He was awarded Man of the Series award in T20I series.
Due to his amazing batting form, many former cricketers and cricket experts wanted Pandya to play in upcoming Test Series as veteran allrounder Ravindra Jadeja ruled out of the first test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21 due to concussion injury.
.@hardikpandya7, with an average of nearly 90, has emerged as India’s go to batsman in white ball cricket, behind @imVkohli. Time is ripe for Hardik to be added to the Test squad, in this red hot form worth holding him back in Australia
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) December 6, 2020
Now, former Indian cricketer, Mohammad Kaif batted for his inclusion in test series. The 40-years-old cricketer said Tweeted, “@hardikpandya7, with an average of nearly 90, has emerged as India’s go-to batsman in white-ball cricket, behind @imVkohli. Time is ripe for Hardik to be added to the Test squad, in this red hot form worth holding him back in Australia.”
What Hardik Pandya Was Asked And How He Replied To The Questions?
Hardik Pandya replied to all these voices in the press conference after the second T20I match. He said, “It is a different ball game. I mean I do not mind but at the end of the day, the call is on the management. Yeah, I do not think I can say much about it.”
Also, the Gujrat-born cricketer who is now developing the skill of finishing matches, said, “During the lockdown, I wanted to focus on finishing games. That is exactly where it matters the most. It does not matter whether I score or do not score more runs apart from that.”
He went on to explain how to win the games for his team from different situations in the matches, “I have been in these situations so many times. That is how I learnt from my mistakes in the past. My game is always around the confidence which I carry, it has that fine line where I back myself and not become overconfident. I always remember all those times when we chased big totals and it helps.”
Also, the Baroda cricketer elaborated his method of playing while looking at scorecard, “It was not about what they are doing, always was about what I can do. It is a matter of two big shots and today it did come off. I always back myself. It is the situation I have always played. Whatever the team requires I always try to do. It is very simple. Just like to take a look at the scoreboard and play. That is so that I know which bowlers to target.”
He will have to bowl: Virat Kohli
Indian skipper Virat Kohli also said they want Hardik Pandya to bowl in Test cricket matches then only they can add him in the test squad. So he also said we have communicated it to Hardik Pandya.
After back Injury, Hardik Pandya has rarely seen bowling nowadays. He didn’t bowl in any match of IPL 2020. Also, he bowled in only one match in recent ODI series against Aussies. Hardik Pandya played 11 test matches and scored 532 runs with the help of four half-centuries and one century. He also bagged 17 wickets in Test cricket.
