After a back surgery in 2019, Pandya has not been able to bowl regularly. This has cost him a place in the Indian Test squad for the English tour.
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Indian Test Team: Former India selector Sarandeep Singh is in support of the selection committee’s call to ignore Hardik Pandya from the Test squad. He said the all-rounder doesn’t fit into the playing XI if he can’t bowl his quota of overs. He also added that the same applies for shorter formats.
After a back surgery in 2019, Pandya has not been able to bowl regularly. This has cost him a place in the Indian Test squad for the English tour.
Sarandeep, whose tenure ended with Australia earlier this year, also showed surprise when Prithvi Shaw did not even make the standbys.
“The selectors’ decision to ignore Hardik for Tests is understandable. He has not been able to bowl regularly after his surgery. I feel he has to bowl 10 overs in ODIs and four in T20s to be part of the playing XI even in shorter formats. He can’t just play as a batsman,” Sarandeep told PTI.
“If Hardik Pandya doesn’t bowl, it disturbs the balance of the side hugely. You have to play an extra bowler because of that and someone like Surykumar Yadav has to miss out. As we saw in the ODI series against England and Australia, we can’t play with five bowling options.”
The Indian Test team is at full strength when they travel for the World Test Championship final against New Zealand. However, all-rounder Hardik Pandya missed the queue due to his inability to bowl.
“Team now has other all-rounders in Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Jaddu is back, Shardul Thakur can also be an all-rounder, he has shown that. They all can do the job if Hardik can’t bowl.”
Talking about Shaw not being a part of the England tour, Sarandeep said it is too early to sideline a batsman like Shaw.
“He has the potential to do what Sehwag did for India. You can’t sideline him so early in his career. He has scored tons of runs in domestic cricket after being dropped post Australia tour. He has corrected his technical flaws also and look how he played in the IPL.
“You have to back a talent like Shaw and even someone like Shubman Gill (he is in the team but did not gets runs against England at home) for that matter.”
