Hardik Pandya doesn’t play Test cricket for India due to his persistent injury issues. He was last seen in Whites during the sub-continent team’s tour of England in 2018. Since then, he has maintained a distance from the five-day game to prolong his career in shorter formats. He was once considered as the next Kapil Dev.

In a surprising move, Pandya was not given T20I captaincy despite Rohit Sharma’s retirement as the BCCI voted in favour of Suryakumar Yadav. Ajit Agarkar, the chief selector, stated that they took the decision because of Hardik’s injury issues and his frequent absence from the team.

Former India player Lalchand Rajput believes that Hardik Pandya should now be reintroduced to Test cricket. India will play 10 Test matches, including a home series against Bangladesh and New Zealand. The team will also travel to Australia for a five-match Test series against Australia. Rajput feels Hardik can add more firepower to the Indian team.

“I want to see him in Test cricket. He can change the course of the match in three departments,” Rajput told Hindustan Times.

“If he performs well in red-ball cricket, that would add more fire power to the team. He can bat at the no.6 slot and also bowl a few overs,” he added.

Rajput futher said that the appointment of Suryakumar Yadav as skipper was made in the best interest of the Indian cricket. Hardik Pandya had a tough time as the captain of the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024.