Ravi Shastri concerned about Hardik Pandya after demotion from Indian leadership role

Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya were the two candidates for the potential captaincy role for India's T20I side after Rohit Sharma's retirement.

Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar, the head of the selection panel unanimously decided that Surya will be a better option as captain than Hardik Pandya as he is someone who can play all the games.

Before departing for Sri Lanka Gambhir and Agarkar in the pre-departure press conference stressed Hardik's fitness concerns and reasoned as one of the big talking points why Hardik was not chosen as the T20I captain of India.

Now Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has stressed again Hardik Pandya's fitness standards while talking about his role now in the Indian team with him not being the captain of the side.

In a conversation with Sanjana Ganesan for ICC, Shastri offered a few suggestions to Pandya on how can he regain full fitness and improve his performance. Shastri said that he has to bowl more overs to regain his fitness and then make a comeback into the ODI side.

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“I believe match fitness is very important. So whatever T20I cricket there is, he should play as much as he can. And if he feels strong and fit, then obviously he comes into the side for the one-day game as well. “But then again, the bowling becomes important."

"If you have someone coming and bowling just three overs in where you have to bowl 10 in a one-day game, then the balance of the side takes a hit. “If you can bowl consistently eight to 10 overs every game and then bat the way he does, I think he'll play in one-day cricket as well," said Ravi Shastri on the ICC Review.

Hardik Pandya has been injury-prone since 2018. During the Asia Cup clash against Pakistan, he picked up a lower-back injury and then was stretched out of the ground.

He made a comeback to international cricket and played in the ODI World Cup 2029. Hardik was once again ruled out of the 2023 ODI World Cup with an ankle injury that kept him out of the game for more than six months.

He made a return in the IPL but did not bowl initially. He started bowling in the second half of the tournament and proved his fitness to be included in India's T20 World Cup 2024 squad. He was at the peak of his fitness in the tournament bowling his four overs regularly and making an impact with the ball as well.

He ended with 11 wickets in the tournament and 144 runs with the bat. He also bowled the crucial final over in the final of the T20 World Cup and played his part in helping India win the T20 World Cup. He was then included in the T20I squad for the Sri Lanka series.

He has played the first two matches and his fitness has looked good. In the second T20I, he bowled two overs for 23 runs and scored a matchwinning 22 off nine balls in a winning cause for India.

Upto Him: Ravi Shastri On Hardik Pandya's Fitness

Shastri concluded by saying that it is up to Hardik Pandya to realize how much work he needs to put in to regain full fitness and make a comeback to the ODI squad.

“So I think it's up to him really, more than anything else. He understands his body better than anyone. And I'm sure, this will inspire him, especially with the way he did in the World Cup, the way he performed at the right times for India and the World Cup, so that should really get him going. He shouldn't need any motivation to get his fitness right at the top there," Shastri concluded saying.

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