Hardik Pandya Feels Playing Test Cricket Right Now Will Be A 'Challenge' Given His Troublesome Back

Hardik Pandya, India and Mumbai Indians all-rounder, feels that playing Test cricket right now would be a challenge for him, given the fact that he has just recovered from his back injury.

Pandya recently engaged in a freewheeling chat with ‘Voice of Cricket’ Harsha Bhogle on CricBuzz where he talked about a plethora of things related to his career, including his troublesome back injury.

Hardik Pandya, who has no played Test cricket since September 2018, said that while he sees himself as a back-up seamer, it will be a challenge for him to play Test cricket right away.

“I see myself as a back-up seamer for sure. After my back surgery, I don’t know, playing Test cricket right now will be a challenge,” the 26-year-old told ‘Cricbuzz in Conversation’.

He reckoned that he would have risked his back if he was just a Test player.

“If I was a Test player and didn’t have the game in white-ball cricket, I could go now and risk my back in Tests but I know my importance in white-ball cricket. It has happened that I played Tests and then didn’t do well in ODIs and T20s because my plus point is my energy,” Pandya explained.

Also Read: Hardik Pandya Picks His All-Time IPL XI

‘I thought my career was over’- Hardik Pandya on his 2018 Asia Cup back injury

Hardik Pandya has been grappling with his troublesome back for almost 18-20 months. The injury first surfaced during a 2018 Asia Cup game against Pakistan.

Recounting that day, the all-rounder revealed he thought his career was over.

“I genuinely thought that my career is over because I’d never seen anyone being stretchered off. I was knocked out for 10 minutes, after that the pain never went down,” Pandya reminisced.

“What happens to me is that my body goes into recovery mode straight away… Asia Cup was anyway going to be my last series before being rested but then the injury happened,” he added.

Pandya last played for India back in September, post which he underwent surgery. He was scheduled to make his comeback with the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League but for the novel pandemic COVID-19.

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