Dav Whatmore on Hardik Pandya not playing domestic cricket: Indian cricket team's star all-rounder Hardik Pandya is in the news these days. Hardik has lost the captaincy of T20 team and his wife Natasha Stankovic has also left him. Amidst all this, former Australian player Dave Whatmore has also targeted Hardik and criticized him for not giving importance to domestic cricket.
Dave Whatmore, who has been the head coach of teams like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in the international cricket circuit, has also been the coach of the Baroda team. Whatmore played the role of head coach for Hardik Pandya's domestic team Baroda in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. Now he has slammed Team India's star all-rounder for not giving priority to domestic cricket.
What did Dave Whatmore say about Hardik Pandya?
Right-handed all-rounder Hardik Pandya played his last domestic match in the year 2018. Since then, he has not been seen participating in any domestic tournament except IPL. Dave Whatmore expressed disappointment over this.
#HardikPandya is lucky that no one in Indian domestic circuit is even 70% of him otherwise with kind of politics and power struggle going on in Indian Cricket Team he would have been thrown out by now. https://t.co/bSbWB04XKP
— Chandan Sahay (@iCKSahay) July 21, 2024
Speaking to a Pakistani YouTube channel, Whatmore said, “There are still some players who don't play limited overs cricket. For example, in my last few years at Baroda, Hardik Pandya has never played limited overs cricket. It always surprises me that he is called Baroda's all-rounder, but he has not played for Baroda for many years.”
Now BCCI has started giving priority to domestic cricket
Whatmore further added, “But recently, I have noticed that the BCCI is keen to have players participate in the other two formats along with the Ranji Trophy to ensure that they see cricket as a sport. Efforts are being made to ensure that 4-day cricket is not ignored.”
It is worth noting that BCCI has been stressing on playing domestic cricket since the beginning of this year and those who did not do so were shown the way out of the team as well as the contract. The biggest example of this is Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan. At the same time, Hardik has also been asked to play domestic cricket and selection for the Champions Trophy will depend on proving bowling fitness in the Vijay Hazare tournament.
