Former India pacer Praveen Kumar has slammed Hardik Pandya before the start of IPL 2024. Kumar has blasted Pandya for opting to prefer franchise cricket over domestic and International matches. Praveen Kumar has pointed out that Hardik has a pattern of getting injured 2 months ahead of IPL.
Targeting the new MI skipper, Kumar added that Pandya’s injury allows him miss domestic and international matches. However, he gets fit before the start of IPL, thereby indicating that Hardik inclined towards playing for big bucks.
“You get injured two months before the IPL, you don’t play for the country, you don’t play for your state in domestic cricket, and just directly play in the IPL. That’s not how things should be done. It’s okay to earn money, there’s nothing wrong with that. But you have to play for state and country and now people only give importance to the IPL)”, Praveen said.
Hardik Pandya has been missing action midway from the ODI World Cup. He suffered an ankle injury in the IND vs BAN match. However, he recently joined the Mumbai Indians training camp ahead of the start of the IPL.
Hardik Pandya made a shocking return to MI just 2 years after staying with Gujarat Titans. Pandya’s return to the Blue Army saw him taking the captain’s spot from Rohit Sharma. This move made quite a stir among the fans.
“Yes, Rohit can do it. Not only for one year, but he can do it for two years, three years. But eventually, the decision lies in the hands of the management,” Praveen said on Rohit’s captaincy.