IPL 2024: Praveen Kumar launches scathing attack on Hardik Pandya over 'special treatment'

Former India seamer Praveen Kumar has come down hard on the Mumbai Indians captain and all-rounder Hardik Pandya for skipping domestic matches and choosing IPL over playing for his state team in the Ranji Trophy.

After what happened with the young duo of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer, who got released from BCCI’s central contract list for the upcoming season for not abiding by the board’s instructions, questions were raised about Pandya’s name on the list (in A category), despite him not featuring for India across formats for some time now.

With the board urging all centrally-contracted players to appear for their state teams in all domestic competitions, including Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and Ranji Trophy, while being away from international commitments, Pandya hasn’t featured in one.

While he remains the top guy in the white-ball format, primarily in the T20Is (for his exploits), Pandya hasn’t turned up for the Test side since last playing in 2018.

Irked over BCCI’s double standards regarding certain players, Praveen, known for being blunt with his expressions, asked why rules differ for Hardik while others suffer a contrasting fate for similar fouls.

“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 seeks clarity on Pandya as Test cricketer

After dodging queries around his role as a Test cricketer, Pandya, around last year’s World Test Championship (in June), reverted to one of the questions, saying, ‘I haven't even done 10 per cent to reach there.’

Questioning his role as a Test cricketer, Praveen asked if Pandya had given it in writing to the board that he would remain unavailable for selection in the longer format, and if not then he must clear his stance on picking format per his liking.

"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 mould 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," Praveen added.

Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya replaced Rohit Sharma as Mumbai Indians captain ahead of the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League, starting March 22 in Chennai. Mumbai will face Gujarat on Sunday (March 24) in an away clash in their opener.