Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes that all-rounder Hardik Pandya should have been named in Team India’s roster for the next World Test Championship (WTC) final.
The WTC final will be played between India and Australia from June 7 to 11 at The Oval in London. This will be the Baggy Greens’ first WTC final, after India was defeated by New Zealand in the first tournament in 2021.
According to Ponting, Hardik’s all-around talent could have been the deciding factor in the one-off game versus Australia. Notably, the 29-year-old all-rounder has not played a Test match since 2018, and he has been ruled out of the game’s longest format due to recurrent fitness difficulties.
However, highlighting his bowling skills in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL), the Australian believes Pandya might have played in the WTC final.
“I thought about the other day for India in this game is how valuable someone like Hardik Pandya could be in a one-off Test match,”
Ponting wrote for the ICC Review.
“I know he is on record saying that the Test match game is probably a little bit hard on his body. But for a one-off game… he’s been bowling every game through this IPL and he’s bowling quick,”
he added.
Pandya could be that X-factor there for a one-time game, said Ponting
The Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach went on to suggest that Pandya might have been the X-factor for India in the World T20 final because he can perform well with both bat and ball.
“He (Pandya) could be that X-factor there just to pick in a one-off game, come in and see what he can do with bat and ball. He could be the difference between the two teams,”
the 48-year-old added.
Since his debut in 2017, the 29-year-old allrounder has played 11 Tests for India. He has 532 runs at a strike rate of 31.29 from 18 innings, including a century and four fifties, and 17 wickets at a economy of 3.38.
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