Hardik Pandya’s recent lean-patch is very well documented. But just in case you do aren’t aware of it, let me help you understand in short. His numbers during this year’s edition of IPL were far from good and the same goes for his T20 World Cup 2021 statistics.
Indian Premier League’s 14th edition saw Hardik struggle with the bat so much so that he ended the tournament with a run tally superceded by Evin Lewis and Jason Roy, both of whom played less than half the matches as Hardik. With 127 runs off 12 matches, Pandya occupied 49th position on run-getters list. T20 WC 2021 was not much better either as he scored 69 runs off five appearances.
Hardik Pandya is considering Test retirement
It is more than a rumour that Hardik has decided to retire from test crickey, just like he should. Sure, his hitting ability has tapered off in the last year or so. But the primary issue with Hardik is his body. Since 2019 ODI World Cup, Hardik barely bowls. He didn’t bowl a single delivery in IPL 2021 and in recently concluded T20 World Cup, Pandya could bowl only 24 deliveries which cost 40 runs.
Behind Hardik’s lack of batting form hides the real demon… His love and affair with injuries. Before he can recover from one back issue, another one pops up. He has turned to surgery as well. However, it is vain. His lean build doesn’t allow him to handle the pressure of being a pace bowling all-rounder.
Hardik Pandya is well aware of it all. Owing to the same, he had made himself unavailable when India picked its team for the Test tour of South Africa. He wasn’t likely to be picked but still, the decision carries some significance. Recent development around Hardik’s test career only adds to it.
Some unnamed BCCI official has informed InsideSports that Pandya has already intimated the board and management about the decision to bring his red-ball career to an end. He’s known to be a big hitter, not a technician. Thus, it doesn’t come as a surprise that twenty eight year-old Hardik wants to elongate his limited-overs career by sacrificing the longest format of the game. It will be a wise decision keeping his bowling limitations in mind.
“He has been struggling with injuries for a while and although he hasn’t informed us officially, he is considering Test retirement. It will help him keep his focus on white-ball cricket. He was anyway not in our plans for Tests. It will be a great loss for sure but we have to prepare backup,” reads the aforementioned BCCI official’s statement.