Former India cricketer Reetinder Sodhi believes all-rounder Hardik Pandya is no more an automatic choice in India’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup. The global T20 event is slated to take place in the UAE and Oman, which starts on October 17. Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India is likely to announce the squad sometime today.
Incidentally, Hardik Pandya didn’t look in the best of form in the recently-concluded limited-overs series against Sri Lanka. With Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur making a claim for themselves, Hardik’s chances of making it to the squad hangs by the wire.
Big day – Indian team for the T20 World Cup will be announced today, we might see few surprises in the Team selection.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) September 8, 2021
During a chat on India News, Reetinder Sodhi opined that Hardik Pandya might not be a certain pick in India’s squad. He said:
“I will stick my neck out, it is not certain that Hardik Pandya has sealed his spot. Hardik Pandya is a great potential and is called an all-rounder, but if you talk about the recent Sri Lanka series, he did not set the stage on fire.”
Hardik Pandya scored just 19 runs in the two innings he played in the ODI series against Sri Lanka and picked up only two wickets in the three matches.
Shardul Thakur might get a nod ahead of Hardik Pandya – Reetinder Sodhi
Speaking further, Reetinder Sodhi stated Shardul Thakur, who grabbed the limelight with two half-centuries in the Oval Test, will be slightly ahead of Hardik Pandya for making a cut.
“My opinion is that if you compare Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur at this point in time, Shardul Thakur might be seen slightly ahead. I agree Shardul Thakur has done very well in Test cricket but he has the signs of showing exceptional play in T20s as well,” Reetinder Sodhi added.
“The emergence of Shardul Thakur, he has come into consideration suddenly and people have started talking about him all of a sudden. He can be an asset, a player who has the ability to win the match both with bowling and batting. So if you have an option, there is Shardul Thakur, you can take him as well. Competition is very tight, we will have to see who the selectors pick,” he concluded.
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