Hardik Pandya (PTI Photo) NEW DELHI: India all-rounder Hardik Pandya’s absence from India’s ODI plans has drawn attention, especially after the squad for the New Zealand series was announced on Saturday. The right-handed batsman has not been cleared by the BCCI Center of Excellence to bowl full 10-over spells in ODIs.
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With the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup looming, the team management decided not to rush him back and instead focus on carefully managing his workload. The priority for the team management is to keep the 32-year-old Pandya fully fit for the big tournaments rather than pushing him for bilateral ODIs.India’s selection committee has named a strong squad for the three-match ODI series against New Zealand starting on January 11 in Vadodara. Shubman Gill will captain the team, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will return to the ODI setup. Shreyas Iyer has been named vice-captain, though his availability is subject to clearance from the BCCI COE. The squad also includes KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant as wicketkeepers, along with all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy. The bowling unit features Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav.“Hardik Pandya has not been cleared by the BCCI COE to bowl 10 overs in the match and with the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to follow, his workload is managed,” the statement said.While Pandya is absent from ODIs, his form with the bat remains excellent. He produced a stunning innings for Baroda in the Vijay Hazare Trophy against Vidarbha in Rajkot on Saturday. Baroda were struggling at 71 for 5 when Hardik came to the crease. He calmly rebuilt the innings before exploding in the 39th over, smashing five sixes and a four to score 34 runs in six balls. This blitz took him from 66 to a century in just 68 balls.Hardik finished with 133 off 92 balls, hitting 11 sixes and 8 fours. Earlier, in India’s T20I series against South Africa, Pandya played some eye-catching knocks and even completed 100 T20I wickets with his effective bowling.
