Hyderabad: Former India pacer Praveen Kumar has slammed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) surrounding their directive that players need to prioritise domestic cricket whenever they are on national duty and a differential treatment towards all-rounder Hardik Pandya in that matter.
The topic became the talk of the town recently after batter Shreyas Iyer and wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan were not given contracts by the BCCI as they skipped domestic cricket.
However, Hardik Pandya who hasn’t appeared in the domestic circuit for a long time was handed a contract in the Grade A category. According to some reports, Hardik told the board that he would play in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (the domestic T20 tournament) or the Vijay Hazare Trophy (the domestic ODI tournament) whenever he is away from national duty.
Former Indian speedster Praveen Kumar has reacted to the differential treatment by the BCCI towards Hardik Pandya on YouTube. "Hardik Pandya kya chaand se utar ke aaya hai? (has Hardik Pandya descended from the moon?) He has to play too. Why are there different rules for him? The BCCI should threaten him. Why would you play just the local T20 tournament (DY Patil T20 Cup)? Play all three formats. Or have you played 60-70 Test matches that you will just play T20? The country needs you," Praveen Kumar said on Shubhankar Mishra's YouTube channel.
Kumar also said there should be more clarity about Hardik Pandya’s future in Test cricket.
"Give it in writing that I am not available for Tests. Neither are you committing from it, nor are you withdrawing entirely. The BCCI should also be questioned. You can't twist and mould rules for one player. But I feel that there must have been a discussion. If they think Hardik is an asset in T20 and we don't want his fitness to be affected, then it's fine. Either that or a player should be informed that he is only going to be considered for T20s and ODIs but not for Tests. That way, a player is satisfied knowing about his future," he concluded.
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