Hardik Pandya is believed to be plotting a comeback for red-ball cricket as the media has revealed that the Indian all-rounder is most likely going to appear for Baroda in the next season of Ranji Trophy which is its biggest tournament.
Usually playing with the white ball, he has shockingly suggested on his Twitter handle but nothing concrete enough was given out over past days through one or two postings which had him holding and practicing with the red ball.
It is merely a continuation of the exciting tale since several organizations have reported that an insider from Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) disclosed that there is a possibility of Pandya returning to first-class cricket through Baroda in domestic level, looking at the Test series against New Zealand and Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Australian soil later this year.
Pandya has avoided red-ball cricket ever since he went through significant surgery for chronic back problem, concentrating rather on limited overs in order to keep fit.
He has scored 532 runs at an average of 31.29 in 11 Test matches for India and taken 17 wickets with the red ball too.
It was speculated that the 30-year-old, who played his last Test match for India in August-September 2018 could be a surprise pick for the final of 2023 World Test Championship by considering his past performance but he denied those talks saying that he does not wish to take someone’s place who has been regularly playing tests.
Although Pandya has not open his plans openly about playing red-ball cricket; still his social networking activity indicates some signs suggesting that he might consider reviving his first-class career.
Even though he hasn’t openly declared his intentions about playing red-ball cricket, it seems that he doesn’t have anything against bringing back his first-class career as hinted by his activities on social media.
According to some senior BCCI officials quoted by news agency PTI “It is a good thing that Hardik is bowling with red ball but did he really communicated with those who matter (chief selector Ajit Agarkar, head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma) about his plans?”
Considering that Gautam Gambhir is now the coach of the team, there is a chance we could see Pandya coming in as an all-rounder who could be a dangerous package with both bat and ball.
The question is that can India make significant restructuring into the team that went to the World Test Championship finals in its earlier two parts considering Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are still active players?
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