After coming out in favor of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer, Aakash Chopra has also defended Hardik Pandya, who is under fire for getting a Grade A contract from the BCCI despite not playing domestic and international cricket. Hardik hasn’t turned up in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy for a long time, and he has also been missing from international cricket since October, when he injured his ankle.
Ex-player Irfan Pathan was miffed with the BCCI for giving special treatment to Pandya.
Aakash said that Hardik can’t be punished because he is not fighting for a spot in the Test team.
“Why would you punish Hardik Pandya? He doesn’t play red-ball cricket and he hasn’t made himself available either,” Aakash Chopra said.
“So if you are not asking to play Test cricket because your body doesn’t have that much strength, there is no question of getting punished,” he added.
Aakash said Hardik always made himself available for white-ball formats in domestic cricket. “The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy was played in October, and he was part of the World Cup squad. When the Vijay Hazare Trophy happened in December, he was injured. He wasn’t playing cricket but was recovering from his injury at the NCA.”
Hardik has started playing cricket and will return for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League 2024.
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