5 reasons why Hardik Pandya does not deserve a Test spot

#2 Not much exposure to first-class cricket

Hardik Pandya became a known face after the 2015 IPL (Image Credit: ESPNCricinfo)

Despite having made his first-class debut for Baroda back in the year 2013, Hardik Pandya has played just 16 matches so far. In fact, he was relatively unknown until he appeared for Mumbai Indians in the 2015 IPL and played a few blistering knocks.

Apart from that, his only claim to fame in domestic cricket has been his performance in the 2016 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament. In first-class cricket, though, he has certainly not been a star by any stretch of the imagination with 727 runs at an average of around 28 and 22 wickets up to this point.

A credible first-class background is considered imperative for players willing to break into Test cricket. For someone to be able to skip that step, he needs to be exceptionally talented in at least one department of the game.

However, both these factors seem to be missing in Hardik Pandya’s case somehow, which is why it may not be a great idea to have him in the Test team just yet.