The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday announced a 20-member squad for the inaugural World Test Championship final against New Zealand and the subsequent Test series against England. Hardik Pandya has not been named by the BCCI for the WTC final and the Test series against England. According to reports, Hardik has still not recovered fully from his injury, meaning he wouldn't have bowled even if he was selected for the tour. Hardik's exclusion was predicted by a few experts before the team was announced considering the Baroda all-rounder has transformed into a pure batsman. Hardik's all-round abilities had gotten him into the Test team but with him not bowling due to a back issue, the selectors didn't have enough reasons to include him in the team for the red-ball assignments.
Hardik was snubbed for a spot in the Indian team on the tour of Australia but he returned for the England series at home before being ousted from the overseas assignments again. A BCCI source shed light on the subject of Hardik's selection, saying the selection committee had 'failed in its experiment miserably' as it intended to play Hardik as a pure batsman in Tests. “Hardik Pandya is still not in a position to bowl. The experiment of selectors to keep him during England Tests and prepare him with bowling workload has failed miserably. He will henceforth not be considered for Test cricket,” a BCCI source told PTI.
In the 7 games he played for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2021, Hardik didn't bowl a single over. “It doesn’t seem he is being able to sustain the load of bowling. He recovered from a back surgery, changed his action but now it’s his shoulder that is bothering him,” a BCCI source told the Times of India. The 27-year-old has to be ready to bowl longer spells and return to his status as a pace-bowling all-rounder for the BCCI to even consider him for selection. Former cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra has made a big statement on the all-rounder. “One thing is certain that if he is not there in the WTC final, it’s fine but if his name is not there even for the five Tests against England, it’s clear that Hardik Pandya may not be seen in Test cricket for a long while. “We all felt Hardik Pandya’s name will surely be there. It is obvious that if he has to play Test cricket anywhere then England, South Africa, and Australia are the places where you will need Hardik Pandya the medium pacer. There is an issue with his bowling. The captain also said sometime back that they are managing his workload, so that we can keep him safe for Test cricket,” said Chopra on his YouTube channel.
