Picture Credit: Twitter/@gujarat_titans
Hardik Pandya is still to be seen in action ever since he played in the 2021 T20 World Cup. The India all-rounder has been struggling with his fitness for so long now. Although he has looked fit enough to bat and field, his bowling is still in question. Pandya's absence on the field in the last few months also cost him his Grade A contract as he has been moved to Grade C for the 2022-23 season. But, as Chetan Sharma said, Pandya is still in the scheme of things for the 2022 T20 World Cup.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is making efforts to get the all-rounder ready before the mega event starts in October this year. For this, he was asked by the selectors to report to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) so that the trusted minds can look after him. And now after so many altercations, Pandya has finally reported to the NCA in Bengaluru for his fitness Test ahead of the Indian Premier League.
A PTI report has claimed that Pandya has been asked to prove his fitness before he takes up franchise duty for Gujarat Titans for IPL 2022. “Hardik will be at the NCA for the next two days and appear in the various fitness tests. He is a centrally contracted cricketer and has not played any cricket since T20 World Cup in UAE,” a BCCI source was quoted saying on conditions of anonymity.
“He would need to pass the fitness test as it has been mandatory for some time now. Last year, even Shreyas Iyer appeared for a fitness test post shoulder surgery before playing IPL,” he added.
Is Hardik ready to bowl?
As already mentioned, the biggest talk in Indian cricket at the moment is will Hardik Pandya bowl from here on or will he play as a pure batter? The answer to this question will be out when the tournament starts on 26 March but till then NCA report will do the job. Notably, Pandya's franchise Gujarat Titans are ready to play him as a pure batter, but the Indian selectors want Hardik to bowl as well.
“If Gujarat is looking at a pure batter, a skipper, and a finisher, Hardik, in all likelihood, is ready but it will be interesting to see what is NCA's Sports Science and Medicine team's take on his bowling. Is he ready to bowl at 135 clicks upwards?” the source privy to developments said.