Picture Credit: BCCI
Team India and Mumbai Indians star Hardik Pandya was being looked at as a player who will bring an end to India's pace-bowling all-rounder woes especially during Test matches overseas. And thus, when Hardik made his Test debut in 2017, everyone had nothing but hopes and expectation from the cricketer. While the Baroda all-rounder did impress initially even in the purest form of the game, injuries have kept him out of Team India's radar especially in red-ball cricket where he will be expected to bowl longer spells apart from batting.
Amidst all this, Hardik's childhood coach Jitender Singh has also weighed in on his chances of playing Test career in the coming season. As per the coach, the India player will have to remodel his action to remain effective in Test cricket over the years.
We worked together in Baroda on his action after 2016 T20 WC: Jitender Singh
"If he has to play in Test cricket for a longer duration, he has to work a lot on his remodeled action. I remember, he was dropped after the T20 World Cup in 2016 and after that, he didn’t have a great IPL either. Then, we worked together in Baroda on his action. After that, he was selected for an India A tour and went to Australia and got his rhythm back," Singh told News18.com.
"We must not forget the fact that he has been a late-bloomer as a pacer and the muscles will take time to adjust to the workload," Singh added.
In his short Test career so far, Hardik has featured in 11 games, scoring 532 runs with one century and four fifties. Moreover, he also has 17 wickets to his name which includes a five-for in Nottingham against England in 2018.