"BCCI should threaten Hardik Pandya.."- Rohit Sharma's friend

Rohit Sharma’s old friend, Praveen Kumar has launched a scathing attack on Hardik Pandya for not playing domestic cricket. With the BCCI issuing a directive to the players to prioritize domestic cricket, several cricketers have faced severe criticism for not representing their state teams when not being a part of the national team.

Last month, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer lost their central contracts for not playing in the Ranji Trophy. Since then, many have accused the board of impartiality for not taking any action against Hardik Pandya. While Iyer and Kishan lost their central contracts, Hardik Pandya has managed to retain it.

Hardik Pandya has been sidelined since October after suffering an ankle injury during the World Cup game against Bangladesh. After recovering from the injury, he trained in Baroda before returning to competitive cricket through the DY Patil T20 Cup. However, Praveen Kumar believes the India allrounder should not have such luxury when other players are getting punished.

“Hardik Pandya kya chaand se utar ke aaya hai? (Has Hardik Pandya descended from the moon? He has to play too. Why are there different rules for him? The BCCI should threaten him. Why would you play just the domestic T20 tournament (DY Patil)? Play all three formats. Or have you played 60-70 Test matches that you will just play T20. The country needs you,” Kumar said on Shubhankar Mishra’s YouTube channel.

Praveen Kumar on Hardik Pandya’s unavailability for Tests:

Praveen Kumar also shared his views on Hardik Pandya’s decision to not play Tests. The allrounder has not played a Test since suffering a serious back injury during the 2018 Asia Cup. He had to undergo a major back surgery back then and has decided to stay away from red-ball cricket since then.

While Hardik Pandya has still not closed the doors on the Test team, it would not be very surprising if he never plays any Test. Speaking on it, Praveen Kumar said that there should be more clarity while also criticizing the BCCI.

“Give it in writing that I am not available for Tests. Neither are you committing from it nor are you withdrawing entirely. The BCCI should also be questioned. You can’t twist and mold rules for one player. But I feel that there must have been a discussion.

“If they think Hardik is an asset in T20 and we don’t want his fitness to be affected. Then it’s fine. Either that or a player should be informed that he is only going to be considered for T20s and ODIs but not for Tests. That way, a player is satisfied knowing about his future,” said Praveen Kumar who was a part of India’s 2011 World Cup-winning team.