Hardik Pandya, leader of the Gujarat Titans and an all-rounder, was given the chance to play against Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final, which started on Wednesday at the Kennington Oval in London. Australia scored 327 for 3 after Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bowl first. This puts Team India in a tough spot.
Pandya has played in 11 Tests so far, and both with the bat and with the ball, he has an average of around 31. He has one hundred and four fifties, and his best with the ball is 6/50. He is also the captain of India’s T20I team, but Shardul Thakur has taken his place as the team’s all-rounder.
Ricky Ponting, who used to be the captain of Australia and is now the head coach of the Delhi Capitals, pushed for Pandya to be added to the Indian team. On Wednesday, he said that the all-rounder was offered a chance to play in the WTC final as a “one-off.”
“He made it clear that he doesn’t think his body can handle Test cricket. In a game like this, he got sick. What do you think about playing in a game like this, just a one-off test to help the team’s balance? And his answer seemed to be that he didn’t think it was fair to everyone else who had been through this journey in the last couple of years leading up to this game,” Ponting said on air while commentating on Day 1.
Earlier, former England captain Nasser Hussain questioned Pandya’s withdrawal because Rohit Sharma was having trouble finding a good mix in his playing 11 and had to drop Ravichandran Ashwin to play Shardul Thakur. “At this morning’s toss, it was clear that India didn’t know which team they wanted to play on, while Australia was very clear, and Cameron Green had a lot to do with that. He just keeps score, even when he is in England.
“He is the kind of cricket player India would have liked to have. Shardul Thakur is, in a sense, an all-round seam bowler. There are Jadeja, Ashwin, and Axar Patel in India. They can do everything in India, but what about an all-rounder who can bowl seam when you go abroad? “Hardik Pandya, where are you?” Hussain asked on the radio Wednesday during the last play of the game.
