Irfan Pathan slams BCCI for prioritizing Hardik Pandya too much in Indian Cricket Team

Hardik Pandya has scored 197 runs and taken 4 wickets at an economy of 11.94 in IPL 2024 as MI captain.

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan shared his thoughts on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) giving too much importance to Hardik Pandya and asked the Indian management to refrain from giving Pandya “that much priority as they have given him so far.”

Hardik Pandya has been missing games here and there ever since he returned to action from his back surgery. He returned to action in the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL), where he captained Gujarat Titans. He went to the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia but wasn’t used much as a bowler.

Since then, he has bowled inconsistently for India and for his IPL franchises. His hitting prowess has also taken a hit as he tried to reinvent himself as a batter at No. 4 spot in shorter formats.

Hardik Pandya had suffered an ankle injury during the ICC Cricket World Cup and only made his return in DY Patil T20 Cup recently to prepare for the IPL 2024.

Former India cricketer Praveen Kumar also questioned Pandya’s commitment towards playing for India, accusing the BCCI of giving preferential treatment to the all-rounder.

“First of all, he needs to play throughout the full year. He cannot pick and choose. Indian cricket needs to stop doing that. Stop giving preferences to individuals, if you do that, you will not be winning major tournaments. What Australia has been doing for many years is that they are preferring the team game. Making everyone a superstar. Not one superstar, everybody is a superstar in the squad. If you don’t do that, you will not win big tournaments,” Praveen Kumar was quoted by Wisden India.

“If you think you are a primary all-rounder, you need to make that kind of an impact”- Irfan Pathan on Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya has underachieved for India as an all-around player, according to Irfan Pathan. Irfan believes that Pandya “hasn’t made that impact at the international level. The Indian management has been urged by Irfan Pathan not to give Pandya “that much priority as they have given him so far.”

Speaking on Star Sports, the official TV broadcaster of IPL 2024, Irfan said: “What I feel about Hardik Pandya is that Indian cricket needs to make it clear that they should not give him that much priority as they have given him so far, because we still haven’t won the World Cup.”

He added: “If you think you are a primary all-rounder, you need to make that kind of an impact at the international level. As far as the all-rounder is concerned he hasn’t made that impact at the international level, we are only thinking about the potential. We are getting confused between the IPL performances and the international performances. That’s a big difference.”

In the IPL 2024, Hardik Pandya has made 197 runs in 9 games as MI captain and has bowled 19 overs, giving away 227 runs while taking only four wickets.

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