‘Hope Hardik Pandya is lening’: Sourav Ganguly exhorts India star to play Test cricket

India’s failure to beat Australia in the final of the World Test Championship has led to a chorus of calls for youngsters to be included in the Indian team set up at the expense of some of the battle-hardened veterans. However, former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief Sourav Ganguly believes that someone like a Hardik Pandya would have been a good addition to the Indian Test team.
“I hope Hardik Pandya is lening. I want to see him play Test cricket, especially in these conditions,” Ganguly told India Today in an interview recently.
Pandya has not played a Test since 2018 and he has opted sit out of the five-day format due to fitness concerns.
Ganguly’s opinion echoes that of former Australia captain Ricky Ponting who had said that Pandya’s all-round abilities could have turned out to be the deciding factor in the one-off game.

“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 (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,” Ponting had said on ICC’s website.

Ganguly went to add that Indian management should not make knee-jerk decisions on players’ futures based on one-off game like the WTC Final.
“Let’s not jump to conclusions due to just one loss, India will always have talent. And I don’t think it is time to look beyond Virat (Kohli) or (Cheteshwar) Pujara. Virat is just 34,” said Ganguly who went on to add names of youngsters who were good enough to be blooded in: “India has enormous reserves. When you look at some of the performances. I don’t consider IPL performances if we are sticking to Test cricket. In domestic cricket, there are some fantastic players and you will only find out when you give them opportunities. Whether it be Yashasvi Jaiswal or Rajat Patidar. Abhimanyu Easwaran from Bengal scores a lot of runs. Shubman Gill is young as is Ruturaj Gaikwad.”
India lost in the WTC Final for the second consecutive time. last time, they had been defeated New Zealand.