Nasser Hussain and Ricky Ponting speak about unavailability of Hardik Pandya in WTC Final

Skipper Rohit Sharma and his team India are being criticized for their bowling in the ongoing World Test Championship Final against Australia. Even after losing an early wicket, Australia finished their first innings on 469 runs, powered by the centuries by Travis Head and Steve Smith.

Looking at the Indian bowlers struggling to take regular wickets, former England skipper Nasser Hussain raised the question of the unavailability of Hardik Pandya in the Indian squad. Rohit and the head Rahul Dravid are already being questioned for not selecting Ravichandran Ashwin in the playing XI. India are playing with Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Shardul
Thakur, and Umesh Yadav as pacers, with Ravindra Jadeja as the only spinner in the playing XI.

During his commentary stint, along with the former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, Hussain asked why Hardik Pandya is included in the Indian playing XI. Replying to him, Ponting said that the Indian allrounder was asked about his availability in the one-off Test against Australia, to which he replied that it would be unfair to the rest of the Indian players who are already part of the Test squad for a long time.

‘Where is Hardik Pandya?’ – Nasser Hussain

“At the toss this morning, it was so apparent that India were not sure about their side and Australia were crystal clear and Cameron Green has a lot to do with that. He just balances the side away from home in England. He is the sort of cricketer that India would have loved to have. Of course, Shardul Thakur is a seam-bowling all-rounder of kinds. In India, you’ve got Jadeja, Ashwin and Axar Patel. They are complete all-rounders in Indian conditions but what about a seam-bowling all-rounder when you go overseas? Where is Hardik Pandya?” Hussain asked in the commentary during the final session’s play on Day 1.

“That’s the one line that was mentioned in commentary earlier today. He made it clear that he feels his body won’t get through the rigours of Test cricket. He was thrown up in a game like this what do you think about playing in a game like this, just a one-off Test just to help the balance of the side? And his reply apparently was that he didn’t feel it was fair on everyone else who have been through this journey in the last couple of years leading into this game,” Ponting answered.