There is no one matching Hardik Pandya's abilities in India: MSK Prasad

The national selectors picked a plethora of squads for the upcoming tour late on Friday. While MS Dhoni’s absence from the T20I squads was the major talking point, even Hardik Pandya didn’t make it to any of the teams. To everyone’s surprise, the selection panel led by MSK Prasad didn’t pick an all-rounder for the much-awaited Australia Tests. However, the chief selector felt that they didn’t find any player matching Hardik’s abilities which was the reason no one replaced him.

Hardik injured himself during the league match of the Asia Cup against Pakistan in September and since then has been sidelined. He is currently recovering from the back injury and though his performances in England Tests were criticised, the cricketer had got a lot of backing from the management. Even the selectors believe that he is got the talent and certainly he isn’t dropped from the team according to MSK Prasad’s comments.

While there has been no update on Hardik’s injury, it seems that it will take time for him to come back on the field as of now and might be targetting the ODI series down under.

His abilities are unmatched

While speaking to the media during the squad announcement, MSK Prasad clarified that Hardik Pandya is the leading fast-bowling all-rounder currently in India and they haven’t found any replacement for him yet. “It’s very difficult to match Hardik’s all-round abilities. At least we don’t see that kind of an ability in any player in India. That’s why we’ve not considered any other all-rounder,” he said.

Meanwhile, with the way Indian squad has been shaped up, it seems certain that Team India has made up its mind of playing with an extra batsman. Prasad also hoped that Bhuvneshwar Kumar does the job of an all-rounder for them in the Test series. “We expect that Bhuvi can come good and we know that he can bat,” the chief selector concluded with a hope.

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