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India and Mumbai Indians all-rounder Hardik Pandya has reportedly asked the national selectors to not consider him for a while as he strives to regain full time. Such news comes after Hardik was not able to bowl regularly in the T20 World Cup and wasn't in the best of form either following which he was not selected in the T20 squad for the home series against New Zealand which many felt was not "rested" but "dropped".
As per a report carried by ESPNCricinfo, Hardik has conveyed to the selectors to not consider him for a while implying he won't be part of the South Africa tour. He has taken the decision as he is eyeing a return to full-time bowling which was his biggest strength and added immense balance to India's squad when he did not battle fitness concerns. Hardik has not been the same cricketer since he underwent surgery in 2019.
Can we call Hardik Pandy an all-rounder, asks Kapil Dev
Earlier, World Cup-winning India captain Kapil Dev had questioned whether it would be correct to call Hardik an all-rounder since he was not bowling.
"He has to do both the jobs to be considered an all-rounder. He is not bowling so can we call him an all-rounder? Let him bowl, he has come out from the injury," Kapil said at the Royal Calcutta Golf Course.
"He is an extremely important batter to the country, for bowling he has to play a lot more matches, perform and bowl and then we will say," he added.
Dravid will do a better job as a coach than as a cricketer: Kapil Dev
Meanwhile, Kapil also predicted that head coach Rahul Dravid could eventually turn out to be a bigger success than the cricketing career of "The Wall." The home series against New Zealand is also the first one for Dravid as the team's head coach and the team has already clinched the T20I series 3-0.
"He's a good man, a good cricketer. He will do a better job as a coach than as a cricketer because in cricket nobody has done better than him. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed," Dev stated.