"Want to see him": Sourav Ganguly wants out of favour all-rounder to return in India's test setup

Sourav Ganguly has backed the all-rounder who last played a test for India way back in 2018.

The murmurs are on after India’s crushing defeat against Australia in the World Test Championship Final at The Oval. There are discussions taking place on bringing a few changes to the test team. Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has expressed his desire to witness all-rounder Hardik Pandya back again in the red-ball format. Sourav Ganguly has also batted for bringing some fresh faces into the test format as well. Indian batting collapsed badly against Australian pacers and failed to cross 300 runs mark in both innings. Nobody from the top 4 could score a half-century or build a big partnership in both innings.

'Dada' wants Hardik Pandya back in test sqaud

Talking about Hardik Pandya, Former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said, “I hope Hardik Pandya is listening. I want to see him playing test cricket, especially in these conditions”. Earlier Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya refused to play in the World Test Championship citing, “If I want to play test cricket, I will go through the grind, earn my position, and then come back. For that reason, to be very honest, I will not be available or play in the World Test Championship Final or any future test matches until I feel that I have earned my spot”. Right now, Pandya looked focused on limited overs format only. 

All-rounder Hardik Pandya has played only 11 tests in his career and he last played a test match in 2018 against England in Southampton. Sourav Ganguly also said that he will not consider IPL performance for the test selection but will give weightage to Test cricket. He said, “India will always have talent… enormous reserves… I don’t consider IPL performance 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 Jaiswal, Patidar, Abhimanyu Easwaran from Bengal scores a lot of runs”.