India vs England: Hardik Pandya "Back In Red Ball Cricket", Shares Training Pictures With Team India

Hardik Pandya, India all-rounder, took to Twitter on Thursday to share a few pictures from Team India's training session in Chennai ahead of the Test series opener against England. India are set to host England for a four-match Test series, starting Friday. In the pictures, Hardik can be seen batting in the nets as well as having a word with bowling coach Bharat Arun and pacer Jasprit Bumrah. Hardik was included in the 18-man Test squad for the first Two Tests against England after he missed out on the recent series in Australia.

Back with #TeamIndia Back on home soil Back in red ball cricket pic.twitter.com/hpnX1az60e

— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) February 4, 2021

"Back with #TeamIndia Back on home soil Back in red ball cricket," Hardik captioned the pictures. 

The flamboyant all-rounder last featured in a Test match way back in September 2018 -- a match India lost by 60 runs in Southampton. 

Hardik, who had to undergo a back surgery last year, is yet to resume bowling long spells -- a factor that saw him missing out on the recent Test series Down Under. 

The 27-year-old all-rounder had also missed out on the home Test series against South Africa, Bangladesh and an away series in New Zealand early last year due to his back surgery. 

In his last outing, Hardik was the standout performer for India in the limited overs leg of the Australia tour. 

Battling back issues, Hardik played as a specialist batsman in the series and left his mark, finishing as India's leading run-scorer in the three-match ODI series -- which Australia won 2-1. 

In the following T20I series, Hardik played some crucial knocks as India clinched the series 2-1, that earned him the Player of the Series award.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team England Cricket Team Hardik Pandya India vs England 2020-21 Cricket