Hardik Pandya was chosen in the Indian team for the first two Tests against England. As per a report, Hardik has been selected purely as a batsman in the team and not as an all-rounder.
Pandya has been keen to not be used as a bowler for the time being because of the back injury he had sustained in 2019. While he was briefly used as a bowler during the Australia tour, he went on to strain his back further.
When the BCCI announced the Test squad for the first two matches against England, starting February 05, many wondered if Pandya has decided to resume bowling. As per a report in ESPNCricinfo, however, Pandya has been chosen in the team purely on the basis of his batting. The team isn’t planning to make him bowl in the Test series against England.
Pandya didn’t bowl for Mumbai Indians the entire Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 campaign because of the same back issue. In the limited-overs series against Australia, Pandya refrained from bowling even though India constantly lacked a 6th bowling option.
His 4-year spell in the second ODI did see Pandya return to bowling briefly but the Surat-born cricketer confirmed that he isn’t looking to bowl at all in the near future, not even in desperate situations.
As the Indian team management decided to keep a few players in reserve for the Test series against Australia, Hardik expressed his interest in extending his stay Down Under, skipper Virat Kohli ruled it out.
