Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya is getting regular at making headlines of late, both on and off the field. As for his on-field success, he is coming off an impressive outing in the just-concluded limited-overs campaign, in Australia, while his status for Test remains to be unknown.
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Pandya finished as the highest run-scorer in the One-Day Internationals (ODI), which India lost 1-2, and the second-highest in Twenty20 Internationals, that was won 2-1. Furthermore, he was also adjudged Man of the Series for the latter.
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Following the limited-overs campaign, India would now switch focus to the longest format, as they take on the Aussies in a four-Test series, for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, starting December 17. India are the defending champions, having won it during their last visit, in 2018-19.
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Meanwhile, Pandya has not been selected for the Tests, owing to workload management. Notably, he is coming off a just-recovered back, for which he had to undergo a surgery in London last year, as he made a triumphant and impressive return in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, with Mumbai Indians (MI).
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Following his impressive outing in the limited-overs, Pandya had stated that he would love to feature in the longest format and would also stay back if the team management wanted him to. Nonetheless, following Tuesday's match, he had something else to say.
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"I think I should head back home and spend some quality time with my family. I haven't seen my child for four months, so I'd like to spend some time with family right no. Maybe, in the future. I don't know, maybe," said Pandya, on being asked if he would like to play the Tests.
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Nonetheless, he expressed his delight at his performance, earning him the MoS recognition. "I'm quite pleased, and wouldn't mind getting the Man of the Series award, but it was a team effort. We all decided after the second ODI that we'll treat this as a four-match series now and we were hoping that we would win three of four and that's what we got, so happy with that," he added.
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