India Superstar Practices With Red Ball, Hints At Long-Awaited Test Comeback In Australia

13.09.2024 - 05:10 sports.ndtv.com

Star India all-rounder Hardik Pandya on Thursday posted a video of himself bowling with the red-ball during a training session in England, triggering speculation over his return to Test cricket.

Pandya bowling with the red cherry evoked a lot of interest on social media after the 30-year-old posted a series of stories on Instagram.

The injury-prone all-rounder hasn't played Test cricket since September 2018 and underwent a lower back surgery in 2019. He was requested to play the 2023 World Test Championship final against Australia but he turned down the offer stating that he didn't want to take the place of a regular red-ball player.

He last played a first-class game in December 2018. Pandya remains India's best pace bowling all-rounder by a distance with the likes of Shivam Dube and Nitish Reddy way behind the colourful cricketer from Baroda.

cricket India Cricket Team Rohit Sharma Hardik Pandya Gautam Gambhir Ajit Agarkar Star India Australia India Sri Lanka Bangladesh

On the last day of the India vs Bangladesh 2nd Test in Kanpur on Tuesday, the visitors went from three down to seven down in the space of just three runs. Eight sessions were lost in the first three days due to persistent rain and it seemed that the game would just meander to a dull draw. However, after bowling out Bangladesh for 233, India destroyed the visitors' attack to take a 52-run lead, all in just 34.4 overs. The approach opened up the game. Then India kept Bangladesh under the pump, bowling them out for a mere 146 in the second essay and raced to the 95-run target in 17.2 overs.

R Ashwin Reveals How Rohit Sharma Plotted Win Over Bangladesh In Kanpur Test

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Parthiv Patel Dismisses Hardik Pandya's Test Comeback Rumours, Says "Practising With Red Ball Only Because..."

Around a week ago, Hardik Pandya sent the social media buzzing after uploading a video from his practice session. What grabbed atttention in the clip was the fact that Hardik was practising with a red-ball. This gave rise to rumours of the all-rounder's comeback to Test cricket. Hardik last played a match for India in the format in September 2018 and has remained out since that due to his recurring back injury. Former India cricketer Parthiv Patel has dismissed the rumours of Hardik's Test return by saying that he was practising with the red ball as white ball was not available.

Watch: Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja Mimic Jasprit Bumrah's Bowling Action; India Coach's Reaction Is Viral

Team India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate couldn't control his laughter after Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja were seen imitating pacer Jasprit Bumrah's bowling action in front of him. The incident took place after India captain Rohit Sharma opted to bowl in the second Test against Bangladesh on Friday. Before the start of the play, Ten Doeschate, the former Netherlands batter, had joined the players for the pre-match warm-up routine. However, he was reduced to splits after seeing Kohli and Jadeja's antics.

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Star India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Friday achieved an elite feat as he became the first Indian to pick the most wickets in Asia in Tests. Ashwin achieved the milestone on the first day of the second Test match against Bangladesh in Kanpur when he removed Najmul Hossain Shanto for 31 runs from 57 balls in the 29th over. In Asia, Ashwin bagged 420 wickets in Tests and holds the top place on the list. While, Anil Kumble stands in second place with 419 wickets in Asia. Harbhajan Singh holds the third place with 300 wickets in Asia. Ashwin made his Test debut in 2011 against West Indies. Following that, the 38-year-old appeared in 101 Test matches and 191 innings, where he picked 522 wickets.