Hardik Pandya is an overpaid underachiever who has massive attitude problems. In recent news, Hardik Pandya has refused to play the four-day long Ranji Trophy. Traditionally, dedicated cricketers who are in the field for the love of the game focus on building their fundamentals in training academies. They then go on to hone their skills in regional championships, followed by national-level face-offs between various teams during Ranji Trophy.
Earlier players with strong fundamentals and honed skill-set were allowed to enter the national team. In the national team, consistency, stability and performance were prerequisites to remain a part of the squad.
In the past decade, cricket has transformed from being a gentleman’s game into one where ruffians and exaggerated entertainers are celebrated. Hardik Pandya represents all that is wrong with cricket today. Allegedly recuperating from a back injury since 2021, Hardik Pandya has been unavailable for the Indian team. Soon, however, he will magically appear out of thin air – fit as a fiddle. This will be when he captains the Gujarat Titans team in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
Hardik Pandya and IPL
IPL means cash, and cash means Hardik Pandya. Why would Hardik Pandya even think of sweating during the Ranji Trophy when a new IPL season stares him in the face? Hardik Pandya is set to see a salary hike and added responsibility as he is on his way to leading the Ahmedabad-based franchise.
As per Cricbuzz, Pandya will have a staggering salary of Rs 15 crore, which is Rs 4 crore more than his previous salary. In 2015, Hardik Pandya had joined Mumbai Indians for a salary of Rs 10 lakh, which by the end of his stint with the team, went up to 11 crores.
IPL Paves the Way for Pandya’s Entry into National Team
Hardik Pandya caught Virat Kohli’s eye, after which he was inducted into the national team to have the time of his life. But being a man with a larger-than-life personality; overawed by the glamour of the cricketing world and as an avid believer of funky hairstyles, Hardik Pandya really failed to make his mark as a consistent, skilled and performing player.
Many players today perform very well in T-20 matches because unfortunately, their goal is to secure big deals from the IPL franchise year after year. Big brands, promotions, collaborations and IPL auctions have come to define cricket today. Perseverance, having nerves of steel, staying on the crease for long periods of time to play a meaningful knock have all become concepts alien to entertainers masquerading as cricketers.
Cricket has become a game where money has become King. Focussing on IPL matches – where each player aims to perform in not more than five overs has severely hampered the ability of star-studded players to stand a chance in Test and ODI formats.
Hardik Pandya’s career, many feel, is over as far as the national team is concerned. That does not seem to bother the man, who is clearly very determined to perform well in IPL alone. It is perhaps for this reason that BCCI’s chief selector Chetan Sharma on Saturday said Pandya will be considered for selection immediately, but only when he is 100 per cent fit. He also said the selection panel cannot take a call on his comeback until they have proper confirmation of his fitness and bowling.
How is it that Pandya is unfit to play for the national team, while he is ready to entertain Indians during the upcoming IPL season? This beats all logic. One reason could be that Pandya knows he cannot perform for the national team in ODI and Test matches, which is why he is choosing to stay out of the selection process itself.
A lot of players who have made it to the national team have done so solely on the basis of their spectacular IPL performances. IPL, however, does not produce cricketers. It produces entertainers. It does not prepare players for meaningful matches that require grit, skill, knowledge of the game and patience. Playing big shots mindlessly, and playing calmly with variations of defensive and offensive shots is what differentiates an entertainer from a cricketer.
Read more: How cricket transformed from a gentleman’s game to a game of ruffians
Ranji Trophy is considered boring. It does not get much coverage and does not pay well. So, it makes no sense for an entertainer like Hardik Pandya to play such a tournament.
Hardik Pandya is not new to controversies related to perverted sexual behaviour. He has openly boasted about his sexual misadventures on national television. His undisciplined behaviour coupled with his inflated ego due to his marketing team’s presentation of a larger-than-life aura of the man has resulted in a decline in his fitness levels, which in turn have led to poor performances. Once touted as Kapil Dev’s successor, Pandya has been reduced to a pale shadow of his original self.