If Hardik Pandya returns to the No. 7 spot in Tests, it would be wonderful: Robin Uthappa

Former Indian cricketer and analyst Robin Uthappa has suggested that the Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya return to the longest format of the game at number 7. Notably, Hardik's last Test match was against England at Southampton in September 2018.

Speaking exclusively on his YouTube channel, Uthappa has asserted that with his current fitness standards, Hardik can easily bowl 12-15 overs in an innings. For the unversed, due to frequent fitness issues, Hardik hasn’t returned to the Test format since 2018.

“If Hardik Pandya returns to the No. 7 spot in Tests, it would be wonderful. The way he’s playing. Anything can happen; it’s cricket. Never say never. If Hardik decides to play Test cricket, will BCCI ask him not to play? If he says he wants to play and wants to win the World Test Championship (WTC), I don’t think they would say no,” Robin Uthappa said on his YouTube channel.

“I think they are asking him to prove his fitness. Are all-rounders bowling 20 overs? Nitish Kumar is not bowling that much. He’s bowling 12 overs. If he’s to bowl 12-15 overs per innings, I think he can do it the way he’s fit now, the way he’s bowling and batting. It’s his own decision,” he added.

“He's won multiple ICC world championships right now. He’s won the ICC trophies – the Asia Cup, the T20 World Cup. He wants to win the ICC World Test Championship also, then that’s the whole grand slam, right? Which cricketer wouldn’t want to do that for his country? He’s halfway there,” he concluded.

Haridk, who made his Test debut against Sri Lanka at Galle in July 2017, went on to play only 11 Tests, scoring 532 runs at an average of 31.29 with a century and four half-centuries. With the ball, he has scalped 17 wickets with the best bowling figures of 6/50.

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