To get the right balance, India needs Hardik Pandya in Test team: Ian Chappell

Team India has been receiving a lot of criticism after losing the Tests against Australia, and Ian Chappell joined the bandwagon to point out the reasons behind India's big nine-wicket defeat in the third match of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 on Friday (March 3).

The former Australian great said he doesn't understand the Indian management's decision to keep Hardik Pandya out of Tests and added that the player's inclusion could add more balance to India's bowling attack.

After clearly dominating the first two Tests, India suffered an unexpected defeat in the Indore Test and that has led the fans and former cricketers to cite issues within the Indian team. Both teams made two big changes for the third Test, with the hosts bringing in Shubman Gill and Umesh Yadav in place of KL Rahul and Mohammed Shami.

A credit for India's dominance in the first two Tests cleary goes to Indian spin all-rounders Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel with the latter shining with a bat. But Chappell added that having Hardik, a pace all-rounder, povides more bowling depth to the team and criticised the management for keeping him out of consideration for red-ball cricket for last four years.

“I don’t understand why Hardik Pandya isn’t in the Indian team? People keep telling me he can’t bowl so much. Again, you are listening to the medical people or have a chat with the cricket people. If Pandya wants to play, he should be in that side. He is a damn good batsman, he bowls pretty decently, he is a damn good fielder. To get the right balance, Australia needed Cameron Green in India and I think India needs Hardik Pandya," Chappell told ESPNCricinfo.

However, Hardik hasn't played any first-class cricket in the last four years to show any desire for a Test return. He has scored just 532 and has taken only 17 wickets from 11 Tests before getting dropped due to inconsistent performances.

It was a good break for Australia having Cameron Green there: Chappell

Australia were forced to make two changes to their playing XI for the third Test, with Cameron Green and Mitchell Starc returning from injuries in place of David Warner and Pat Cummins. Green bowled only two overs and scored 21 runs but his inclusion helped Australia field three specialist spinners, and that totally did wonders in the game.

Chappell also highlighted Green's inclusion providing balance to Australia's bowling attack and said that bowling out India on just 109 runs in the first innings helped Australia to a dominating win.

“It was a good break for Australia having Cameron Green there because it does give them the opportunity to play three spinners. The key to it in my opinion was bowling India out cheaply in the first innings. Once they did that, they got themselves a chance to a decent lead. It wasn’t a huge lead but on this pitch a pretty useful one. And then in the second innings only having to chase a low score," Chappell added.

Australia secured a place in the final of World Test Championship with a win in Indore Test while India need a draw or win in the last Test which is scheduled to start from March 9 in Ahmedabad.