Hardik Pandya Suggests Name to Virat Kohli For Next All-Rounder; Sends Out A Subtle Message to Indian Captain

After India's first defeat against Australia in the series on Friday at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), Team India captain Virat Kohli was very vocal about the lack of all-round options in the Men in Blue squad. 

Meanwhile, Hardik, who has been taken as a complete batsman in the team because of his back trouble, admitted that lack of 6th bowling option was going to be tough in the coming matches. 

However in the first ODI, Hardik played only as a batsman, while Team India didn't have an all-rounder in the team to give the ball to after the 5 primary bowlers conceded runs in plenty.

Post the match, when Hardik was asked about the issue, he subtly recommended the name of his brother Krunal for the role.

“That has been the question always, right? We have to find and maybe make… I have always believed that... even when I came into the circuit, I was not always the all-rounder which I wanted to be. But with time I groomed myself and became that bowling option. I worked on my bowling,” he said.

“Yeah, it is always going to be difficult when you go with five bowlers. When someone is having an off day you don’t have someone to fulfil the quota. More than injury, the sixth bowler’s role is when someone among the five bowlers is having a bad day. I think it is going to be… maybe we will have to make, maybe we will have to find someone who has already played India, and groom them and find a way to make them play,” the Hardik further added.

Further in his conversation, the 27-year-old asserted that his brother could solve the problem for Team India. "Look in the Pandya family, there's one waiting at home," he said, hinting towards Krunal, his brother.

It's been more than six months that Hardik has refrained from bowling because of the back injury he sustained in 2019. As he has not planned to quit bowling totally, Hardik still doesn't consider himself to be 100 percent fit for bowling.

“It is a process. I am looking at a long-term goal where I want to be 100 percent of my bowling capacity for the most important games. The World Cups are coming. More crucial series are coming. Whenever it is required. I am thinking as a long-term plan, not short term where I exhaust myself and maybe have something else [injury] which is not there. So it is going to be a process, which I am following. I can’t tell you exactly when I am going to bowl but the process is on. In the nets, I am bowling. It is just that I am not game-ready but I am bowling. It is all about confidence and the skill has to be at an international level," Pandya said of his bowling.