Hardik Pandya is the most valuable all-rounder in white-ball cricket and by a mile. He has turned up for India on numerous occasions, and recently. impressed in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with his all-round show. For starters, with the bat Hardik scored 246 runs in 7 matches at an average of 49 and a strike-rate of 193. Apart from that, he went on to bag six wickets in those matches.
Hardik Pandya Must for Champions Trophy
Now, come the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he is going to miss a few matches for his side Baroda — which might not be the best move from the 31-year-old. Why, one would ask? The plain and simple reason being, although Hardik Pandya has played enough cricket in the year to be able to excuse himself from the first few matches, but then he hasn’t played even a single LIST A match in over a year, which could be a detrimental factor in the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025.
For the unversed, Hardik last played a 50-over match on October 19, 2023, during the World Cup, where he had sustained an injury, and was thereafter ruled out of the tournament. Call it destiny, not even a single 50-over match has come his way since then. Yes, he led MI in IPL 2024 after that, and then went on to contribute heavily in India’s T20 World Cup win a few months back, but for a 50-over match, a player needs different levels of fitness.
To Miss Few Vijay Hazare Matches
Had he played all the matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, that would have only tuned his body better for the Champions Trophy 2025. Look, batting is still fine, but it will be his bowling that India will heavily rely on. If he can get to bowl 7-8 overs per match, India can certainly try different combinations in the tournament.
What also needs to be seen at the VHT is, if Hardik’s body can still sustain the rigours of 50-over cricket or not. More often than not, he has been found wanting in the fitness department, despite staying away from the red-ball cricket from long. Meanwhile, the tournament will start on December 22, and Baroda will be led by sr. Pandya — Krunal.
