Hardik Pandya wants to attain the fitness-level of one South African cricketer

Hardik Pandya, the Baroda all-rounder, has featured consistently in the national team for the last two and half years. While he has tasted a significant amount of success, severe criticisms have also welcomed him in his short career. Pandya is currently suffering from an acute lower back injury, which he developed during India’s match against Pakistan in the Asia Cup.

He was replaced in the playing eleven by Ravindra Jadeja, who made his white-ball cricket comeback after more than a year. The 25-year-old also couldn’t find a place in the Test and ODI squad for the bilateral series against the Windies. Recently, the youngster expressed his desire to emulate Jacques Kallis, the legendary South African cricketer.

“I love Jacques Kallis. The way he managed his workload, the number of games. He played in all the formats of the game, and was still fit. My goal is to be as fit as him,” Pandya was quoted as saying in an exclusive interview with The Times of India (TOI).

Kallis boasts of over 25,000 runs, combining all the formats in a career, which spanned from December 1995 to July 2014. Moreover, the experienced campaigner racked up a stupendous 577 wickets in cricket at the highest level. He hung his boots after playing an ODI against Sri Lanka in Hambantota.

Tough times for Pandya

As far as Pandya is concerned, he collapsed in his run-up during the match against India’s arch-rivals in Dubai. He then had to be taken off in a stretcher after which he was ruled out of the multi-nation event. India have quite a few international fixtures in the coming months.

After the conclusion of the Windies series, Virat Kohli and Co are scheduled to tour Australia for a Test, ODI and T20I series, and Pandya is expected to be a part of the setup, provided he recovers early.

Get the latest Cricket News and updates from India vs West Indies series, Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.