All-rounder of the Indian cricket team, Hardik Pandya, pulled out of India A squad that is touring to New Zealand at the last minute after he failed the fitness test in Mumbai. He is yet to recover completely from his back surgery.
All-rounder Vijay Shankar has been picked as a replacement of Hardik Pandya and is headed towards New Zealand where the team is going to play three List A games, two 50-over warm-up games, and two four-day unofficial Tests.
Hardik Pandya was seen doing target practice of hitting the stumps with the captain of the Indian cricket team, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday.
Later, under the watchful eye of the bowling coach of the Indian cricket team Bharat Arun, Pandya bowled in the nets for a while.
The A team of India is not undertaking the Yo-Yo test but Hardik failed the necessary fitness tests that a player must undergo while coming back after recovery.
Pandya said that he was looking forward to getting fit and being a part of the Indian squad in the second half of the New Zealand tour. He tried everything possible to not get into any surgery or anything, but that did not work, Pandya added. After noticing that he was not able to give 100%, Pandya felt that he was not doing justice to himself and also the team. That is when he decided to go for surgery.
After the surgery in London, Pandya was undergoing recovery as his trainer Rajnikant monitored his progress in Mumbai.
Despite being a non-compulsory practice, nearly all the players of the team were seen practicing at the training session. Openers Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul practiced batting at the nets.
