Hardik Pandya’s ‘only competition’: Simon Doull picks CSK player for India squad

However, Hardik’s failure with the bat and his batting order choices for Mumbai Indians (MI) is facing the ire of fans as well as former cricketers. Hardik used to come on top of the order for Gujarat and “hold it together,” Kapur said during a discussion with Adam Gilchrist and Simon Doull on Cricbuzz. That is perhaps not happening in the case of MI.

Kapur also mentioned that more than Mumbai fans, Indian cricket fans would like him to perform for the sake of the upcoming T20 World Cup. As a bowling all-rounder, Pandya was an automatic choice, he said, while indicating that there was no other competition in that category.

“His only competition is not bowling,” Doull said while referring to Shivam Dube. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have been using Dube, a seam bowler, as an Impact Player for batting in this IPL. He hasn’t been given a chance to be a part of the bowling side.

Shivam Dube ‘outperforming’ Hardik Pandya

“The way he (Dube) is batting, He is outperforming Hardik with the bat by a long long way. From what I understand, he’s bowling a lot on the nets. From an Indian selection point of view, you can’t ask any of these teams to do something that doesn’t help them win the tournament,” Doull said.

“They can’t ask Chennai we want Shivam Dube to be bowling. That’s not fair. But, they can say, we want him to be bowling 45 minutes in the nets every other day. Let us know how he’s going. I understand he’s doing that. That’s the key for me,” added the former New Zealand pacer.

“At the moment, Hardik’s bowling and batting is not working for him. So, Dube has got the wood over him (Hardik),” he added.

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Published: 23 Apr 2024, 11:16 AM IST