Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to not give Hardik Pandya “much priority” and to think of the team first as the T20 World Cup 2024 is just a month away.
Pathan believed that Pandya, despite being one of India’s most important players, has underperformed in recent years and the Blues should not just take him for the potential.
"What I feel about Hardik Pandya is that 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,” Pathan said on Star Sports Press Room Show.
“As far as the all-rounder is concerned, he hasn't made that impact at the international level, we are only thinking about the potential. We are getting confused between the IPL performances and the international performances. That's a big difference," he added.
He then added that India should put the team over individuals, just like Australia, as the latter prefers the team game and manages to win major tournaments. The former cricketer was of the opinion that Pandya needs to play international cricket with consistency in order to be selected for mega-events.
"First of all, he needs to play throughout the full year. He cannot pick and choose. Indian cricket needs to stop doing that. 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. Making everyone a superstar. Not one superstar, everybody is a superstar in the squad. If you don't do that, you will not win big tournaments," Pathan concluded.
Remember, Pandya replaced Rohit Sharma as Mumbai Indians captain in the IPL 2024 and it has not been a smooth ride for the five-time IPL winners as they have just won three matches in the IPL 2024 so far and their chances of qualifying for the playoffs continue to shrink.