"Indian cricket should not give Hardik Pandya that much priority"- Irfan Pathan with hard-hitting comments on star all-rounder

Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan didn't mince his words while addressing the role of Hardik Pandya in the Indian team.

The Men in Blue are set to announce their T20 World Cup squad soon, and many believe that Hardik will be a shoe-in because of the balance he brings to the side.

However, Irfan reckons the all-rounder needs to be judged on his performances for India and not just the IPL. He reckons Hardik shouldn't get any special treatment.

On 'Star Sports Press Room', Irfan Pathan said about Hardik Pandya:

"Indian cricket needs to make it clear that they should not give him that much priority as they have given him so far, because we still haven’t won the World Cup.

"And if you think you are a primary all-rounder, you need to make that kind of an impact at the international level. We are getting confused between the IPL performances and the international performances."

Hardik got injured in the 2023 World Cup game against Bangladesh when he fell awkwardly on his left ankle and hasn't represented India since then..

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Hardik Pandya cannot pick and choose: Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan also opined that Indian cricket shouldn't allow Hardik Pandya to choose when he wants to be available for selection. He gave the example of the Australian team and how they give the team the preference over individuals.

Pathan said:

"First of all, he needs to play throughout the full year. He cannot pick and choose. Stop giving preferences to individuals, if you do that, you will not be winning major tournaments.

"What Australia has been doing for many years is that they are actually preferring the team game. If you don’t do that, you will not win big tournament."

In nine games in IPL 2024, Hardik has scored 197 runs and has picked up four wickets at an expensive economy rate of 11.95.