'I Want Him To Play Test Cricket': Sourav Ganguly's Appeal To India Star After WTC Final Loss

Sourav Ganguly highlighted that India has rich reserves of talent in cricket which paints a bright picture for the future in the longest format of the game.

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly during day one of the ICC World Test Championship Final between Australia and India at The Oval on June 07, 2023 in London, England. ( Image Source :Getty Images )

Even as India have failed to win an International Cricket Council (ICC) in the last 10 years, former Team India skipper Sourav Ganguly remains optimistic of the team's future. The ex-BCCI President warned against drawing any sort of conclusions after the side succumbed to yet another defeat in a major ICC event. As Indian fans were hoping for their decade-long wait to end for a world title, they were completely outplayed by Australia in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final, losing the match by 209 runs.

Post the defeat, Ganguly has made an appeal to a star Indian cricketer. While the Prince of Calcutta said that it is not yet time for the team management to look beyond Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for now, he hoped to see the return of all-rounder Hardik Pandya into the red-ball scheme of things.

"Let's not jump to conclusions due to just one loss, India will always have talent. And I don't think it is time to look beyond Virat (Kohli) or (Cheteshwar) Pujara. Virat is just 34," Ganguly said on India Today.

"India has enormous reserves. When you look at some of the performances. I don't consider IPL performances if we are sticking to Test cricket. In domestic cricket there are some fantastic players and you will only find out when you give them opportunities. Whether it be Jaiswal or Patidar, Abhimanyu Easwaran from Bengal scores a lot of runs. Shubman Gill is young, Ruturaj Gaikwad and I hope Hardik Pandya is listening. I want to see him play Test cricket, especially in these conditions," he added.

Notably, Hardik has stayed away from red-ball cricket since his return to competitive cricket after a long injury layoff. The decision has also been taken, keeping in mind his workload management, given that he adds enormous balance to the side with his skills with the bat and ball. The Gujarat Titans (GT) captain last played a Test match in September 2018.