Former India head coach drops hint at Hardik Pandya's retirement from ODI cricket

SportsTak

Former India head coach and acclaimed cricket commentator Ravi Shastri has given a bold statement on Hardik Pandya's retirement from the 50-over format as he believes that India's star all-rounder Hardik Pandya might call it quits to ODI cricket post the 2023 ODI World Cup.

 

Pandya is regarded as one of the best all-rounders in the world. In the recently concluded ODI series against England, he was adjudged the 'Player of the Series' for his all-round blitzkrieg. However, it becomes very difficult to justify all the three formats of the game, given the tight cricket schedule nowadays.

 

Recently, England's star all-rounder and Test skipper Ben Stokes' ODI retirement shocked everyone as he wants to focus more on T20 and Tests. The same can happen with Pandya, as per Shastri.

 

However, for the past two years, the primary focus has been on the T20 format due to the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cup events. The ODI cricket has started losing its charm but Shastri has given a suggestion that if it sticks to the World Cups then there are chances of the 50-over format’s survival.

 

“50-over format might be pushed back but it can still survive if you focus just on the World Cup. From the ICC’s point of view, paramount importance should be given to World Cups, whether it is T20 World Cup or 50-over World Cup, the bucks have to increase. Test cricket will always remain because of the importance it brings to the game," said Shastri on Sky Sports during commentary.


Shastri said that Hardik is very clear in his thought that he wants to play T20 cricket and is not focussing on other formats much.

 

“You have players already choosing what formats they want to play. Take a Hardik Pandya. He wants to play T20 cricket and he is very clear in his mind that ‘I do not want to play anything else," he added.

 

However, the former India coach further asserted that Hardik will play the upcoming ODI World Cup but might retire from the format after that.

“He will play the 50-over cricket because there is a World Cup in India next year. After that, you might see him going from that as well. You will see a similar thing happening with other players, they will start choosing formats, they have every right to," Shastri concluded.