Hardik Pandya set to forego Ranji Trophy in order to concentrate on his white-ball return

Hardik Pandya is going through a tough time in his career as he has been sidelined by the BCCI for quite a few months now due to his back injury and subsequent recovery. He has decided to skip the upcoming Ranji Trophy to focus better on his return to white-ball cricket.

Hardik hasn’t played test cricket since 2018 and even faced criticism for his poor bowling performance in the T20 World Cup of 2021. He has admitted in a number of media confrontations that his injury has limited his chances in the longest format of the game. But he still has a chance to redeem himself in the upcoming IPL season, where he will captain the Ahmedabad team.

According to cricket.com, Sourav Ganguly has said in a recent media interaction that he is expecting Hardik to play in the upcoming Ranji Trophy. Sourav says, “Hardik was wounded and was given a break to fully recuperate so that he may continue to serve Indian cricket for a long time. I suppose I will first watch him play in the Ranji Trophy. I anticipate him bowling a lot more overs and his body becoming stronger”.

The Ranji Trophy is scheduled to be conducted in 2 phases. The first phase will start from February 10 to March 15. Then it will take a break due to IPL 2022 and then start again from May 30 till June 26.