'Hardik Pandya doesn't play for India...' - Praveen Kumar sparks controversy with serious 'IPL' allegations

Mumbai Indians named Hardik Pandya as their new skipper ahead of IPL 2024. The decision by the management took everyone by surprise. What was an even bigger surprise was the trade-off between Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians for the Indian all-rounder.

Hardik Pandya last played international cricket for India in the ICC World Cup 2023. He injured his ankle in the match against Bangladesh and since then has been out of the Indian national cricket team.

He has missed every bilateral series that India have played since the World Cup but still was kept in the Grade A category in BCCI’s latest release of centrally contracted players. As per that category, he will be earning 5 crores.

Pandya becoming the new Mumbai Indians captain was not taken in a positive light by several former Indian cricket experts. Unanimously they spoke about whether he will be able to make a sound comeback after his ankle injury. Irfan Pathan even questioned why Hardik did not play domestic cricket during his time away with the national cricket team.

“They are talented cricketers, both Shreyas and Ishan. Hoping they bounce back and come back stronger. If players like Hardik don’t want to play red-ball cricket, should he and others like him participate in white-ball domestic cricket when they aren’t on national duty? If this doesn’t apply to all, then Indian cricket won’t achieve the desired results,” he had written on Twitter.

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Praveen Kumar Slams Hardik Pandya Over Captaincy Row

Now Praveen Kumar in a recent interaction has blasted the Indian all-rounder for skipping domestic cricket and giving preference to play only in the IPL.

Well said Praveen Kumar about hardik Pandya #HardikPandya #MI

pic.twitter.com/8FIVboOkWM

— विजय (@bijjuu11) March 12, 2024

“You get injured two months before the IPL, you don’t play for the country, you don’t play for your state in domestic cricket, and just directly play in the IPL. That’s not how things should be done. It’s okay to earn money, there’s nothing wrong with that. But you have to play for state and country and now people only give importance to the IPL”, Praveen said.

Praveen’s response came in a query to the question of whether Mumbai Indians were correct in removing Rohit Sharma, who led them to five IPL titles with Hardik Pandya.

Praveen Kumar further said that Rohit was still good enough to lead the side at least for the next two to three years. Rohit last had a 400-plus season in 2019 and his last 500-plus season came in 2013, the very first season that Mumbai won their first IPL title.

“Yes, Rohit can do it. Not only for one year, but he can do it for two years, three years. But eventually, the decision lies in the hands of the management,” the 37-year-old said.

Rohit Sharma is in very good form heading into IPL 2024. He scored 400 runs in the Test series against England with two centuries and a fifty as well. He went past 1000 Test runs as captain and brought up his highest Test score as captain. He is expected to open the innings with Ishan Kishan at the top. It will be interesting to see how much he scores this season.

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