Hardik Pandya’s Champions Trophy fate hinges on Vijay Hazare trophy performance as BCCI cast fitness doubt.

With Hardik Pandya opting out of the series against Sri Lanka, his chances of making the Champions Trophy squad hinge on his performance in domestic cricket. After a brief international break, Hardik Pandya is all set to return to action in the T20I format, where he lost the captaincy race to Suryakumar Yadav, in the series against Sri Lanka. However, Hardik opted out of the ODI series, which is part of the Sri Lanka tour, for a personal reason, which left his selection for the Champions Trophy next year in a precarious position. India will be playing only six ODI matches before the ICC tournament in February 2025, which will be Gautam Gambhir’s first major assignment as the head coach of the Indian men’s team. The three matches will be against Sri Lanka next month, between August 3 and 7, in Colombo, while the remaining games will be against England at home next year in the first week of February. With Hardik opting out of the series against Sri Lanka, his chances of making the Champions Trophy squad hinge on his performance in domestic cricket. Earlier this year, BCCI released a mandate for all Indian players to participate in domestic tournaments when away from international duty. While Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan faced the wrath of BCCI, who ignored them from the central contract list, Hardik, who was still nursing an injury he incurred during the 2023 ODI World, was spared. But the all-rounder vowed to return to white-ball action for Baroda when away from Indian cricket. With the BCCI slated to host the Vijay Hazare Trophy, a List A domestic tournament, between December 20 and January 18, Hardik will be expected to play for Baroda to make the ODI squad for the home series against England and, subsequently, the Champions Trophy side. According to a report in the Times of India, BCCI will be keenly following the proceedings in the List A tournament amid doubts over Hardik’s bowling fitness. “While he has done exceptionally well bowling just four overs in T20 cricket after returning from his injury, Hardik hasn’t been tested in longer formats. His endurance needs to be monitored. The selectors will keep a watch on how he goes in the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the end of the year,” a BCCI source told the newspaper. The report added that Hardik may not be an automatic pick for the ODI team if he fails to prove his bowling fitness. In fact, his fitness has been largely speculated as the reason behind the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee and new head coach Gambhir’s hesitation to hand over the T20I captaincy to Hardik. While Suryakumar has been named the new skipper in the format, Shubman Gill has been elevated to the vice-captaincy post for the two white-ball series. “Hardik’s batting has not been as explosive as it used to be. He played well in the T20 World Cup but his true value comes through if he is bowling well and finishing his quota of overs. His last ODI was during the World Cup last year when he got injured. It means he would not have played ODIs for over a year. His workload needs to be monitored,” the source said.