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Home » Cricket Home » News » India vs Australia: Mohammad Kaif Wants Hardik Pandya to Be Added in Test Squad
India vs Australia: Mohammad Kaif Wants Hardik Pandya to Be Added in Test Squad
Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif opined that Hardik Pandya must be included in India’s Test squad while playing against Australia in the ongoing tour.
- Trending Desk
- Updated: December 7, 2020, 6:14 PM IST
Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif opined that in-form batsman Hardik Pandya must be included in India’s Test squad while playing against Australia in the ongoing tour.
India’s tour of Australia started with the one day international matches, followed by the T20Is that are being played currently. Although India failed to win the ODI series, they have already claimed a 2-0 lead in the shortest format of the game and Pandya’s devastating batting in the middle order is to be partially credited.
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Pandya scored a total of 210 runs in the recently concluded three-match ODI series and Sunday’s T20 game saw the all-rounder score a 42 not out knock while chasing 194 runs in 20 overs. He has also been consistent in the Indian Premier League this year. Given his flair with the bat, Kaif thinks that he should be picked in the playing XI of the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy.
Although his position was concrete in the limited over format matches, Pandya is not there in the Test squad selected for the tour. In fact, Pandya has not played a Test match since September 2018.
Taking to Twitter, Mohammad Kaif mentioned how Pandya had become the “go to batsman in white ball cricket” for Team India in the recent series and how it was the correct time for him to show his prowess in the longest format of the game.
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He wrote, “.@hardikpandya7, with an average of nearly 90, has emerged as India's go to batsman in white ball cricket, behind @imVkohli. Time is ripe for Hardik to be added to the Test squad, in this red hot form worth holding him back in Australia.”
.@hardikpandya7, with an average of nearly 90, has emerged as India's go to batsman in white ball cricket, behind @imVkohli. Time is ripe for Hardik to be added to the Test squad, in this red hot form worth holding him back in Australia
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) December 6, 2020
Earlier, Pandya had confessed that he would not mind staying back if the team management asked him to play in the Test series. Speaking at the post-match press conference, Pandya said, “It is a different ball-game, I do not mind if they ask me to stay back for the Test matches, the call lies with the team management, I cannot say much about it.”