For those of you who thought that Team India all-rounder Hardik Panyda was training with the red-ball, since he is going to make a comeback in the Test side, think again. He hasn’t played any long-format match since 2018, and that reality is not going to change.
A lot of fans and media personnel got excited seeing Hardik bowling with the red ball, but now former India keeper Parthiv Patel has cleared the air. Many were expecting him to return to Ranji Trophy, and then the Test team in Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Speaking on JioCinema, Parthiv said, Hardik was forced to play with red ball, since the white ball wasn’t available. He went on to say that the all-rounder’s body won’t support 4-5-day cricket at all. It is important to note that Hardik had underwent a back surgery in 2022, and then in 2023 was injured for a long time, due to an issue in the ankle.
“I’m not looking at Hardik Pandya (in Tests). He was practising with the red ball only because the white ball wasn’t available. I don’t think his body allows four-day and five-day matches.
“He has to play at least one first-class game (before being considered for selection in Tests), which is very unlikely,” Parthiv said. Meanwhile, Hardik has played 11 Tests in his career, where he scored 532 runs and picked up 17 wickets to go with it.