According to the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA), Hardik Pandya would be part of the team if the team qualifies for the knockout stages of the current local 50-over competition.
Hardik Pandya, an all-rounder for India, will rejoin Baroda’s team for the Vijay Hazare Trophy knockout stages after missing out on the roster for the tournament’s opening rounds, which started on Saturday at various locations. If the team qualifies, Pandya will join the team during the knockout stages of the current 50-over domestic event, according to the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA). “He will play from the knockouts; he has informed us,” Cricbuzz said Kiran More, a member of the BCA’s Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC).Ajit Agarkar’s national selection committee and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have emphasized that unless specifically exempted, players must compete in domestic tournaments. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), where Pandya recently participated, Baroda advanced to the semifinals. He amassed 246 runs and claimed six wickets in seven games.
The 31-year-old last appeared against Bangladesh in Pune on October 19 of last year during the ODI World Cup, and it has been more than 14 months since he last played a non-T20 match. He has now given up playing red-ball cricket entirely after suffering an ankle injury in that game that kept him out of action for a long time.His participation in the one-day domestic competition may be crucial to his selection for the Champions Trophy the following year, particularly as India considers players like Andhra Pradesh’s Nitish Reddy, an all-rounder who has performed admirably in the current Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series in Australia.
Pandya hasn’t played in any other forms since his injury, although he has taken part in 38 T20 matches in domestic, international, and IPL contests. This has given rise to rumors that he is only interested in Twenty20 cricket.Kiran More, however, denied these allegations, saying, “He played in every SMAT match and will also play in the 50-over tournaments. Baroda did well in the SMAT, making it to the semifinals before losing because of the rainy Bengaluru weather. Hopefully, the team will also advance to the VHT knockout stages.
As part of Group E, which also consists of Tripura, Kerala, Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi, Baroda is now playing in Hyderabad under the leadership of Hardik’s brother, Krunal Pandya. Beginning on January 9, Baroda will host the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) elimination stages, with the final slated for January 18.
