How Hardik Pandya managed to retain a Grade A contract despite not playing domestic cricket, Tests?

Hardik Pandya has been retained on his Grade A contract despite not being in action since the 2023 ODI World Cup last year.

New Delhi: At a time when the cricket fraternity is talking about the omissions of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer in the recently announced BCCI Central Contracts, there have been a lot of discussions about Hardik Pandya. The India all-rounder, who last played for the Men in Blue during the 2023 ODI World Cup in November, has been retained in Class A. Pandya, who injured his ankle against Bangladesh, recently returned to action for the first time in DY Patil T20 tournament earlier this week.

The removal of Kishan and Iyer from the contract list comes after the duo denied playing in the Ranji Trophy despite being fit, thus disrespecting BCCI’s directive to play domestic cricket when not playing for the national team. In Pandya’s case, he plays only white-ball cricket for India. His last Test match for India was in 2017, while his last appearance for Baroda in the state was in 2018 in a Ranji Trophy match.

It is clear that Hardik’s has been given the A contract, subject to some conditions. According to a report in Indian Express, Hardik had to give an undertaking that if he is not part of the Indian white-ball team despite being fit later this year, the Mumbai Indians captain will have to represent his state in the Syed. Mushtaq Ali T20s and Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Unlike Kishan and Iyer, what worked for Pandya was that he continued to report to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) from time to time when required. The 30-year-old was recently seen training with Vadodara before appearing in the T20 competition in Mumbai.