Away from the Test Team, All-rounder Hardik Pandya Keeps Grinding in the Nets: WATCH

Team India’s home season begins Thursday with the first Test against Bangladesh in Chennai. Rohit Sharma & Co have begun preparations as the entire unit has been sweating it out in the nets under the watchful eyes of Gautam Gambhir.

Away from the team, all-rounder Hardik Pandya has also kept the hustle going. Though he isn’t a part of the Test team but is making sure that he continues with his training before turning up for India in the limited-overs format.

In a video shared by Mumbai Indians on social media, the ace all-rounder could be seen bowling full throttle and batting with fluency in the nets. The video is edited in such a way that Pandya appears to be smashing it out of the park off his own bowling.

Take a look:

Earlier on Thursday, Pandya shared a few videos and a picture of himself bowling with the red-ball raising hopes he might be making his comeback in the longest format of the game.

Pandya last played a Test for India in August-September 2018 and later underwent surgery post which he just concentrated on white-ball cricket. There were speculations that the 30-year-old could be a surprise pick in India’s squad for the final of the 2023 World Test Championship but he turned down the talks by asserting he doesn’t want to take the place of a Test regular.

While Pandya hasn’t explicitly revealed his plans of playing red-ball cricket, the series of Instagram stories do give a hint that he may not be averse to reviving his first-class career.

“It’s heartening to know that Hardik is bowling with red ball but has he really spoken to men who matter (chief selector Ajit Agarkar, head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma) about his intentions?,” a senior BCCI source was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

(With Agency Inputs)