Reports | Hardik Pandya dropped and not rested for New Zealand T20Is
Hardik Pandya has not been included India's T20I series against New Zealand
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According to reports, unlike Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah, all-rounder has been dropped and not rested for the T20I series against New Zealand. Hardik Pandya's fitness has been an concern for quite sometime now and the he has failed to deliver for India despite being given numerous chances.
Hardik Pandya played as an specialist batsman in the two warm-up matches ahead of the Super 12 round of the T20 World Cup 2021. In India's opener against Pakistan on October 24, did not bowl again and could manage only 11 runs with the bat as Pakistan won the match by 10 wickets.Â
The Mumbai Indians star bowled two overs each in the next two matches, leaking 17 and 23 matches without taking any wicket. The Gujarat-born cricketer did not bowl a single over during the second leg of the IPL 2021 in the UAE. In fact, a lot of questions were raised over his selection in India's T20 World Cup squad.Â
The hard-hitting roght-hander has been finally dropped for the home T20I series against New Zealand and if sources are to be believed, Hardik will have to perform in the domestic cricket to earn a place back in the squad.Â
âOf course, Hardik Pandya has been dropped. He will have to prove his form and fitness to be considered for the selections. Pandya purely as batsman doesnât fit into our scheme of things. He will be asked to play domestic cricket, go through the rigour if he has to make a comeback to the squadâ, said one of the selector to Insidesport on condition of anonymity.
âItâs not just about one or two seam all-rounders. We did not had any backup for Hardik and that is very worrying. The ones we tried in Hadikâs absence havenât really lived up to exception. We cannot just wait for a player to recover. We need a seam bowling all-rounder and there is a clear lack of depth in that field. Rahul, Virat and Rohit and the selection committee are aware of it and the selectors will be monitoring the seam all-roundersâ progress in Mushtaq Ali,â the official added.Â
In the absence of Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) star Venkatesh Iyer is expected to fill the all-rounder's slot in the India playing XI against New Zealand. The first match of the 3-T20I series will be played in Jaipur on November 17.Â
India squad for New Zealand T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Mohd. Siraj
