'Right now, I'm going to....' - Team India all-rounder Hardik Pandya breaks silence on his Test future
Team India all-rounder Hardik Pandya breaks silence on his Test future
Hardik Pandya has taken over as the T20I captain amid the absence of Rohit Sharma following the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. Ever since India lost the semi-finals to eventual winners England, Rohit, Virat Kohli and some other seniors have been sidelined from the shortest format with Hardik leading a young side keeping the 2024 T20 WC in mind. Although Hardik hasn't officially replaced Rohit as the T20I captain, he is touted to be the next white-ball skipper with him recently replacing KL Rahul as the limited-overs vice-captain.
Despite the added responsibility of captaining the side, the 29-year-old Hardik hasn't bogged down as an all-rounder. In India's recent home T20I series win over New Zealand, Hardik ended as the Player-of-the-Series with five scalps and few important cameos with the bat. While he remains a vital cog for India in white-ball formats, Hardik hasn't played a Test since September 2018. His back injury kept him out of action for long and while he has returned in style, there have been no signs of him coming back to the Test setup anytime soon.
Thus, Hardik opened up on his Test future following India's T20I series triumph over the Black Caps in Ahmedabad on Wednesday (February 01).Speaking to reporters after the third T20I, he said,"I will come (back) when I feel (it's) the right time to play Test-match cricket." He added, "Right now, I'm going to focus on white-ball cricket, which is important, and if time is right and body is fine, I'll give (the long format) a try."
Hardik was last seen in action in whites during India's tour of England in 2018. He has532 runs along with 17 wickets in the red-ball format. He will next be seen in action for Team India during their three-match ODI series versus Australia right before IPL 2023. For now, Rohit-led India are gearing up for the four-match Test series opener versus the Aussies, in Nagpur, which will get underway on February 09.