Why Hardik Pandya Was Not Picked For New Zealand ODIs Despite Scoring Vijay Hazare Trophy Ton
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya was one of the major absentees from India's squad for the three-match ODI series against New Zealand.
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya was one of the major absentees from India's squad for the three-match ODI series against New Zealand, which was announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday. The BCCI, in a statement, asserted that Hardik was not cleared by the COE to bowl 10 overs in a match and therefore the selectors did not include him in the team for the series beginning in Vadodara on January 11. There is also little point in risking him with T20 T20 World Cup around the corner.
"Hardik Pandya has not been cleared by the BCCI COE to bowl 10 overs in a match and considering the ICC Men's T20 World Cup to follow, his workload is being managed," the BCCI said in its release.
Earlier on Saturday, Hardik hammered a barrage of sixes, including five in a row, on way to a 92-ball 133 yet the opposition, Vidarbha cantered to a nine-wicket win over Baroda in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
He hit an overall eight sixes and 11 fours to fire Baroda to 293 for nine from a shaky 71 for five at one stage.
However, Vidarbha hardly broke a sweat in the run chase with Aman Mokhade smashing a 121-ball 150 not out and Dhruv Shorey standing firm on 65 off 76 balls. The 294-run target was overhauled in 41.4 overs.
It was Vidarbha's fourth win in five games while Baroda suffered their second loss in five matches.
Batting as low as No. 7 in his first match of the competition, Hardik came out all guns blazing to bring up his maiden List A century in his 119th match, taking Baroda to a competitive total.
In the 39th over, Hardik went after Vidarbha spinner Parth Rekhade to collect a total of 34 runs, which included five sixes and a four.
The first-five balls of the left-arm spinner went flying over the ropes while the final ball was hit for a boundary.
Hardik's innings included only 31 singles as he launched the counter-attack, hitting most of his sixes in the midwicket region and over long-on. A few also went flying over long-off.
Hardik's domination could also be gauged from the fact that the next-best batter in Baroda's innings was Vishnu Solanki, who made 26.
(With Added Inputs)
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India Cricket Team
New Zealand Cricket Team
Hardik Pandya