‘Me coming there and taking someone’s place will be unethical’ – Star India all-rounder on potential return in Test Championship final

India’s cricket team defeated Australia 2-1 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series to get to the Test Championship final. India will face Australia once more in the summit clash, which will take place in June at London’s Oval. In a press conference on Thursday, Hardik Pandya, who hasn’t participated in a Test match for India since August 2018, was questioned about reaching the coveted final. The all-rounder disqualified himself by claiming that it would not be “ethical” to choose him for the game because he hasn’t ‘earned’ his place.

“No. I am an ethically very strong person. I haven’t done 10% to reach there. I am not even a part of 1%. So, me coming there and taking someone’s place will ethically not go well. If I want to play Test cricket. I will go through the grind and earn my spot. Hence, for that reason, I will not be for the WTC final or future Test series until I don’t feel that I have earned my spot”, he said on the eve of the opening ODI against Australia, addressing the media. The Indian all-rounder, who will be captaining the team, stated that he wants to put in the work first before rejoining the Test squad.

Hardik Pandya will captain India in the first ODI against Australia

Hardik has had some experience as a captain, having steered the Indian squad in 11 T20Is in total, winning 7 of them. But the all-rounder will face new difficulties as team captain in ODIs, although Rohit Sharma will take over as the Indian team’s captain for the second and third ODIs.

The support of veteran players like Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja, etc., who are still in the squad, will be crucial for Hardik as he strives to earn the right to lead the ODI team full-time in a year. India and Australia will play the first ODI of the series against the Kangaroos at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday.