New Delhi
Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya will return to the Baroda team for the Vijay Hazare Trophy knockout matches. He was not selected in the squad for the first few rounds of the tournament. Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) has confirmed that Pandya will be in the squad during the knockout stages of the ongoing 50-over domestic tournament, provided the team qualifies. Cricbuzz quoted BCA Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC) member Kiran More as saying, “He will play through the knockouts; They have informed us.”
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the national selection committee headed by Ajit Agarkar have stressed that players should participate in domestic competitions unless they are explicitly exempted. Pandya recently featured in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), where Baroda reached the semi-finals. He scored 246 runs and took six wickets in 7 matches played in this tournament.
Pandya has not played a non-T20 match for over 14 months, having last played during the ODI World Cup against Bangladesh in Pune on October 19 last year. He suffered an ankle injury in that match, due to which he remained out of the field for a long time and since then he has completely stopped red ball cricket.
Hardik Pandya playing in the Vijay Hazare tournament could be important for him considering the upcoming Champions Trophy, especially when a young player like Nitish Kumar Reddy has caught everyone’s attention with his talent. Nitish Reddy has impressed everyone with his all-round performance in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy. Since the injury, Pandya has played 38 T20 matches in International, IPL and domestic tournaments, but during this period he has not played any other format. This is leading to speculation that he is focusing only on T20 cricket.
