ICC WTC Final: Hardik Pandya could have been valuable for India in WTC Final: Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting reckons the addition of all-rounder Hardik Pandya into the Indian test squad for the ICC WTC Final could have turned out to be a decisive call. The Aussie great said Pandya’s all-rounder abilities could have come in handy in the one-off test between India and Australia.
Team India and Australia will lock horns against each other at the World Test Championship (WTC) Final stage, starting June 7 at the Oval in London. The players of both teams have already started arriving in London to begin their preparation for the marquee event.
Ponting’s rationale behind naming all-rounder Hardik Pandya a valuable addition was his bowling skills. Hardik has bowled in almost all the games in the recently concluded Tata IPL 2023. Moreover to everyone’s surprise he has been quick and right on the money with his bowling prowesses.
“…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.
Notably, Hardik last featured in a 5-day game in 2018 and since then he has struggled to make a comeback to the red-ball Indian squad. For the most part of it, the all-rounder wasn’t fit to get into the test setup, but, he has now ruled out the possibility of him playing the traditional format of cricket.
In one of the interviews, Hardik reckon it would be ethically wrong for him to take somebody’s place in the test side without doing enough.
“No. I am ethically very strong person. I haven’t done 10 per cent to reach there [Indian test squad]. I am not even a part of 1 per cent,” Hardik Pandya had said in one of the interviews.
“So me coming there and taking someone’s place will ethically not go well. If I want to play Test cricket, I’ll go through the grind and earn my spot. Hence, for that reason I will not be available for the WTC final or future Test series until I feel that I have earned my spot,” he added.
ICC WTC Final – Hardik Pandya could be X-Factor: Ricky Ponting
However, the Australian batting legend, Ricky Ponting thinks otherwise. He feels Hardik could have been the X-Factor player for India if he plays the one-off test between India and Australia.
“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,” said Ricky Ponting.
“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 reckons.
Hardik has so far played 11 tests in which he has scored 532 runs with the help of a century and four fifties at a decent average of 31.29. His bowling record read 17 wickets in 19 innings after making his debut in 2017 against Sri Lanka.
Interestingly, this will be India’s second shot at being the ICC World Test Champions. India lost to New Zealand in the inaugural edition of the ICC WTC in 2021. Now India will face Australia in the second consecutive ICC WTC Final in London.
To know more head to ICC’s official website.