Hardik Pandya retained his place in India's T20 World Cup 2024 squad as vice-captain.
Despite the scrutiny over his form, all-rounder Hardik Pandya was retained as vice-captain of the 15-member squad.
While leading Mumbai Indians (MI) in the ongoing IPL season, Hardik has failed to live up to the expectations, particularly in the bowling department. He has bowled a total of 23 overs from 8 out of 10 games so far, claiming only 6 wickets while conceding runs at an economy rate of 11.
With the bat, Hardik has scored 197 runs at an average of 21.89 and a strike rate of 150.38. He is yet to hit a half-century in the IPL 2024.
Meanwhile, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has backed Hardik Pandya's selection, saying that the all-rounder will excel when playing for the national team.
"There's a big difference playing in the IPL and playing for your country. Playing for your country brings out something different in every player and Hardik Pandya will be a different player," said Gavaskar on Sports Today.
"He's had to face a lot of issues in this particular tournament (IPL), he's handled it quite well. When he goes overseas and has to play for India, I think he will be in a completely different frame of mind.
"And that's going to be a much more positive frame of mind than maybe what we have seen here in this tournament. So, Hardik Pandya will make a contribution with both bat and ball in this tournament," he added.
Gavaskar believes that the Indian side, led by Rohit Sharma, has the capability to clinch the coveted World Cup title.
"They are title contenders, without a question. At the international level, sometimes you need a bit of luck and if this Indian team has just that little bit of luck, then I'm very confident that after 2007 (triumph), the T20 World Cup will come back to India."
According to Gavaskar, all the players would be perfectly conditioned going into the global showpiece tournament given that they would have played a lot of cricket in the IPL.
"They'll go with good rhythm (following the IPL); the bowlers would have bowled a fair bit of overs, the batters will have enough time out in the middle, some of them would have scored 80s, 90s 100s.
"So, clearly, this team will go with that little break... a week break (between the conclusion of IPL and start of the World Cup). With that little break, they will be a little bit refreshed, but at the same time not rusty."
Team India’s 15-member squad for T20 World Cup 2024:
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh
Travelling Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan
(With PTI Inputs)