Twitter wants Hardik Pandya in India Test squad after his five-wicket haul for Baroda

The Indian selectors picked the Test squad for the Australia series without an all-rounder with Hardik Pandya injured. Moreover, the chief selector MSK Prasad admitted that there is no player in the domestic cricket at the moment who can match Pandya’s abilities. The seam-bowling all-rounder injured his back during the Asia Cup in September and since then has been on the sidelines.

Even the Indian captain Virat Kohli expressed concern about missing Hardik ahead of the Test series. But now it seems that there might be a change in the squad before the Boxing Day Test. Hardik, who was earlier picked in India A squad for three One-Dayers in New Zealand, was instructed to play in Ranji Trophy for Baroda to prove his fitness.

The cricketer, playing first-class cricket after a long time, didn’t disappoint and picked up a five-wicket haul against Mumbai. He sent down almost 19 overs relentlessly and didn’t look in discomfort.

Hardik to be included in Test squad?

Moreover, Hardik Pandya also picked five wickets to announce his return to the arena. Interestingly, he took the new ball for Baroda and scalped a couple of top-order batsmen in Aditya Tare and Vikrant Vilas Auti. The all-rounder came back for another spell late in the day and proved his worth by sending back Shivam Dube who is in great form this season.

Mumbai were bundled out for 465 on the second day even as Hardik Pandya ended with the decent figures of 5/81. This innings proved that the cricketer is fit again and raring to go at least with the ball while the selectors might now have a keen eye on how he bats now.

Hardik lends a great balance to the team and if he bowls like he did during the third Test in England when he rattled the hosts with five wickets, India can really hit the Aussies hard.

Meanwhile, even Twitterati was delighted to see Pandya make a comeback and perform extremely well. They wanted him back in the Test squad straight away for the third and fourth Test against Australia. It will be interesting to see if he will be travelling down under in the next few days.

Here are some of the tweets:

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