Team India endured a terrible opening day in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final against Australia.
Skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first. Considering the overcast conditions and a green-tinged pitch at The Oval, Indian bowlers were expected to get the better of Australian batting line-up.
However, it turned out exactly opposite as the duo of Travis Head (146*) and Steve Smith (95*) made a mockery of the Indian bowling attack to propel Australia to a massive 327/3 at stumps on Day 1.
Amid the listless bowling display from the Indian team, former England skipper Nasser Hussain on commentary though asked where is Hardik Pandya.
While Hardik has made a successful comeback to white-ball cricket after going through back surgery in 2019, he hasn’t played Test cricket for India since August 2018.
“At the toss this morning, it was so apparent that India were not sure about their side and Australia were crystal clear and Cameron Green has a lot to do with that. He just balances the side away from home in England. He is the sort of cricketer that India would have loved to have. Of course, Shardul Thakur is a seam-bowling all-rounder of kinds. In India, you’ve got Jadeja, Ashwin and Akshar Patel. They are complete all-rounders in Indian conditions but what about a seam-bowling all-rounder when you go overseas? Where is Hardik Pandya?" Hussain asked on-air during the final session’s play.
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, who is also part of the commentary panel, later answered that Pandya had ruled himself out, saying it would be unfair to take someone’s place without making any contribution in India’s journey to the WTC final.
“That’s the one line that was mentioned in commentary earlier today. He (Hardik) made it clear that he feels his body won’t get through the rigours of Test cricket. He was thrown up in a game like this what do you think about playing in a game like this, just a one-off Test just to help the balance of the side? And his reply apparently was that he didn’t feel it was fair on everyone else who have been through this journey in the last couple of years leading into this game," Ponting said.
Earlier this year, Hardik Pandya cited ethical reasons to rule himself out of the one-off WTC final match.
“No. I am an ethically very strong person. I haven’t done 10 per cent to reach there. I am not even a part of 1 per cent. So me coming there and taking someone’s place will ethically not go well. If I want to play Test cricket, I’ll go through the grind and earn my spot. Hence, for that reason I will not be available for the WTC final or future Test series until I don’t feel that I have earned my spot,” Hardik had said ahead of the ODI series against Australia back in March.
