One of the reasons why Hardik Pandya is rated highly by the Indian captain and coach is him being a real team man and when the teammate turns out to be his brother, that quality of junior Pandya knows no bounds. Instead of ruing about being ruled out from the entire Australia tour, Hardik congratulated Krunal, who was selected in the Indian T20 squads for West Indies and Australia series in place of him.
Hardik’s elder brother Krunal, who earned his maiden India call-up for the T20 series in England, has managed to keep his place in the side after Hardik was ruled out. Hardik took to twitter almost immediately after the squads were announced late on Friday night to congratulate his brother.
Krunal, who is yet to make his debut, looks certain to feature in the playing XI against West Indies because of his all-round abilities. He will be run close by Tamil Nadu youngster Washington Sundar, who has also made a comeback into the T20 side after recovering from his injury.
Pandya has not yet recovered from the back injury he sustained during the Asia Cup group stage match against Pakistan in UAE. It is certain to keep him away from cricket at least till November 15 and the with the Australia tour starting with the three-match T20I series on November 21, the selectors decided not to risk the ace all-rounder before the 2019 ODI World Cup.
"Hardik Pandya has not yet recovered and will at least sit out till November 15," India chief selector MSK Prasad said on Friday (October 26). "It's very difficult to match Hardik's all-round ability. At least we don't see that kind of ability now in India. That's why no other alternatives were discussed. And we expect Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar] to come good; we know he can bat."
Hardik, for his part, is leaving no stones unturned to regain his fitness. He had shared a video on twitter where he was seen sweating it out, going through different fitness drills.
The three-match T20I series between India and West Indies begins at Kolkata on November 4.