'Some individuals...' - Dav Whatmore has a go at India all-rounder for not playing domestic cricket
India's star all-rounder, Hardik Pandya, has had an incredibly busy period of time. Two years after the 30-year-old cricketer had been released by his old franchise, Mumbai Indians fans celebrated his return to the club in November of last year. Their delight was short-lived, however, as they were furious when he was appointed captain, taking five-time winning captain Rohit Sharma's spot. Hardik Pandya and MI had a terrible campaign as a result of their rivals booing their new captain and rumours of internal disputes circulating across the team as MI ranked last in the rankings in IPL 2024.
The Indian team management still had optimism for the star all-rounder in spite of all of this turmoil. Following his injury-plagued absences from the ODI World Cup last year, he made his international comeback in the T20 World Cup. Despite having bad form and suffering criticism from the fans, Hardik Pandya made a remarkable comeback all through the two-month IPL year, winning matches while guiding India to the T20 World Cup title.
Everything was headed well for the middle-order batter, who was expected to be the next Indian captain in the shortest format after Rohit Sharma retired from the T20Is. However, the all-rounder's position suddenly deteriorated once more when Gautam Gambhir, the new head coach, appointed Suryakumar Yadav to take over as captain. Following the same, it was reported that BCCI had urged Hardik Pandya to play in the Vijay Hazare Trophy to get a place in the ODIs ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025. The all-round star last played in this format at the ODI World Cup last year.
It's been a while, given that Hardik was a regular in domestic cricket. Following his recovery from the ankle injury he suffered during the World Cup in 2023, Hardik chose to play for his state side, Baroda, in the Ranji Trophy by appearing in the DY Patil T20 event. Additionally, in recent times, the all-rounder hasn't played for Baroda in white-ball events.
Hardik Pandya wouldn't ever play white-ball cricket: Dav Whatmore
In the same vein, former Baroda coach Dav Whatmore, who has previously coached international teams like Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, has recently spoken out about the Gujarat-born cricketer rather candidly. Speaking on Pakistan's Pak Passion YouTube channel, Whatmore highlighted Hardik's lack of Baroda appearances and expressed his surprise at the player's reputation as a "Baroda all-rounder."
“There's still some individuals who don't play white-ball cricket. For example, my last few years in Baroda, Hardik Pandya wouldn't ever play white-ball cricket. It always amuses me that he's termed as the all-rounder from Baroda but he hasn't played for Baroda for years! So, yes, there are some who don't do that,” Whatmore said.
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