“I do not know if that has happened”: KL Rahul indicates unsurety over Hardik Pandya’s exclusion from team’s T20I squad vs New Zealand

KL Rahul indicates unsurety over Hardik Pandya’s selection snub from Team India’s T20I squad for upcoming Home series versus New Zealand 

After a poor outing in the recently concluded 2021 T20 World Cup in UAE, Team India is all set to commence a Home series against against New Zealand comprising 3 T20Is followed by 2 Tests beginning November 17.

With quite a few experienced players from the T20 World Cup squad given a break from the arduous scheduling, and others due to injury/lack of form, the selection committee announced a relatively young squad, with a few of them ready to make their debut appearances.

KL Rahul, team India’s newly appointed Vice-captain for the T20I series, has opened up on the exclusion of all-rounder Hardik Pandya from the aforementioned squad. The Chetan Sharma-led selection while excluding Pandya from the squad did not clear the air of doubt around whether the 28-year-old has been left out due to injury or owing to his poor form.

KL Rahul indicates unsurety over Hardik Pandya’s selection snub

Addressing the media ahead of the commencement of the 3-match T20I series, KL Rahul perhaps tried to play it safe by not spilling the beans around Pandya’s exclusion from the squad.

When asked whether Hardik Pandya was given any reason for his exclusion from the T20I squad, Rahul said: “Quite honestly, I mean I do not know if that has happened. He knows exactly what he needs to do and what is expected out of him. He is smart enough to understand that.”

This wasn’t how we wanted our World Cup campaign to go. We fell short but we will work twice as hard to repay the faith and support shown to us by our fans. Thank you to everyone who cheered us on at the stadiums and everyone back home 🙏 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/n8ZnHhEm6H

— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) November 9, 2021

He also spoke about India’s preparation and template for the next year’s T20 World Cup.

“The long-term goal is to focus on the World Cup but we will focus on the process and every series from now on is important. We will try to see what combinations are perfect for us and can be used for the world cup but right now we will be focusing on one series at a time,” exclaimed Rahul.

Pandya had a pretty ordinary outing with both bat and ball in the recently concluded T20 World Cup in UAE. He bowled a total of just 4 Overs- two each against New Zealand and Afghanistan, while conceding 17 and 23 runs respectively in the process.

With the bat, barring a 13-ball 35 runs knock versus Afghanistan, he could not come up with any notable contribution.

Also, there were continuous apprehensions regarding his fitness issues, with even reports suggesting he wasn’t fit enough to partake in the T20 World Cup. BCCI’s top officials were in fact unamused by the selectors’ decision to include him in the squad.