According to Aakash Chopra, Hardik Pandya cannot be compared to Shreyas Iyer or Ishan Kishan and has earned a BCCI central contract.
The Indian Cricket Control Board recently unveiled the lineup of players centrally contracted for the 2023-24 season. Despite their performances, Shreyas and Kishan missed out on contract spots, contrastingly, Hardik secured a place in Grade A, notwithstanding his absence from Ranji Trophy competitions.
In a video posted on his YouTube channel, Chopra stated that Hardik cannot be penalized for not playing first-class cricket, explaining:
“Hardik Pandya’s case is very simple. Why would you punish him if he has not made a mistake?
“He is not playing red-ball cricket. That ambition or aspiration does not exist anymore. He has not said that as such, but the truth is that he is not available at all for any Test series.”
Aakash Chopra
The former India opener stated that Hardik is not in contention for a spot in the Test team and cannot resist the demands of first-class cricket.
“So if you are not at all auditioning for Tests, no one will ask you to play first-class cricket.
“Why would you play four-day games when you don’t have that much strength in your body to bowl so many overs and have injury problems? So why should he play – fair play.”
Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra also stated that his state team will suffer if he is unable to play as an all-rounder in red-ball cricket. He also stated that Pandya would accept someone else’s spot in the XI if he did not want to play the longest format, at least in the near future.
Aakash Chopra explains the timeline of Hardik Pandya’s injury and absence from domestic white-ball cricket
According to Aakash Chopra, Hardik Pandya had an injury during the World Cup in October-November of last year:
“Let’s try to understand the chronology slightly. It will just clear up your mind why a different rule has been kept for him and why it is wrong to include him with Ishan and Shreyas. He got injured during the World Cup, that was October-November.”
Aakash Chopra
The cricketer-turned-commentator stated that the Baroda all-rounder could not have played any domestic white-ball cricket.
“The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy was over in October-November. He was playing the World Cup for India at that time. The last match that Baroda played in the Vijay Hazare Trophy was on 5th December.
“He was not fit and available. He wasn’t practicing anywhere but was recovering from his injury in the NCA.”
Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra said that Hardik never made himself unavailable. He further stated that comparing his situation to those of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan is incorrect, adding that different criteria were not applied to the all-rounder.