Unfit Hardik Pandey not selected for New Zealand tour
Exuberant India’s all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who had recently flunked a fitness test, has not been selected for India’s tour to New Zealand. It is understood that Pandya is not set for international cricket, and will now have to play at least one domestic game for Baroda before being selected for a national comeback. India’s next assignment after the New Zealand series will be three ODIs against South Africa at home in March.
Recently, Pandya failed the bowling workload monitoring test, which is one of the obligatory requirements after coming back from back surgery. The 26-year-old Baroda cricketer had recently claimed that he would be fit for the second half of New Zealand series but sources in the BCCI claim that it was the cricketer’s individual choice.
“He must have felt that he will be fit. But as we know he has failed the fitness test contrary to what his trainer S Rajnikant claims. It was never about Yo-Yo Test but about bowling fitness. He failed the workload test which broadly means failing a fitness test,” a senior BCCI source told PTI.
Pandya’s fitness is very essential for India’s T20 World Cup campaign as his fast-medium bowling and destructive hitting power gives India the required balance. He last played for India in September last year.
