Hardik Pandya played his last Test for India in 2018 | Source: X.com
Following the successful T20 World Cup 2024 campaign, Sunil Gavaskar, the former Indian cricketer, is pushing for Hardik Pandya to join the Indian Test cricket setup.
Sunil Gavaskar believes that Hardik Pandya has the potential to lead India to its first World Test Championship (WTC) title, a feat India has narrowly missed in the last two seasons.
Notably, Hardik has played only 11 Test matches for India during his eight-year international career, which includes 186 white-ball games as well. Frequent injuries have led the all-rounder to prioritize his white-ball career.
Hardik Pandya last played Test cricket in 2018. When asked about the team’s ability to dominate in Tests and secure their first WTC title along with a hat-trick of series wins in Australia, Gavaskar told Revsportz:
“Yes, absolutely, they can. I think in the next two months, there should be an attempt to convince Hardik Pandya to play Test cricket. If he bowls ten overs a day to go with his batting, this Indian team could become invincible, and they can surely go on and win the WTC and beat Australia in Australia.”
Across his 11 Test matches, Hardik Pandya has achieved impressive all-round figures, with a batting average above 31 and a bowling average of 31.05, with a total of 17 wickets