There's No Place for Hardik Pandya in My Test Team, says former Indian cricketer

Former India cricketer turned commentator, Aakash Chopra has opined that all-rounder Hardik Pandya has no place in the team he imagines for India’s upcoming five-match Test series against England.

Meanwhile, India will play a five-match Test series in the UK starting in August. The Virat Kohli-led side will be desperate to come out with a positive result and prove their mettle as the top-ranked Test team.

“There is no place for Hardik Pandya in my team,” Chopra told IndiaTV.

The ten Tests veteran further assessed Pandya’s stint in South Africa and stated his 93-run knock, as the most decent knock.

“As far as his Test career is concerned, Pandya has played one decent knock that came in the first Test against South Africa. He played well after being dropped twice and went on to make 93 runs. However, he couldn’t score much in five subsequent innings,” he added.

Pandya made a promising start with a well-made 93, however, since then he only struggled. He managed to score 1, 15, 6, 0 and four runs in five subsequent innings, as India lost 2-1.

Chopra assesses Pandya’s utility

Talking about his utility in the current Test setup, Chopra said if he is not batting in the top five, then there is no place for him. He also admitted Pandya could not bowl 17-18 overs, so he remains underutilised.

“If I am not playing him in top five, then there’s no utility of Pandya as a batsman. I can’t even make him bowl 17-18 overs in a day, thus he can’t be my third fast bowler either.

“He can be my fourth fast bowler. But we don’t need a fourth fast bowler amid speedsters such as Bhuvi, Bumrah, Shami, Umesh and Ishant. It’ll be better to play a spinner instead of Pandya,” Chopra explained.

In conclusion, Chopra praised highly the Indian tailenders who has done a great job with the bat.

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