Injury-ridden Hardik Pandya might soon retire from Test cricket

The first Test match between India and South Africa is all set to kick off from 26th December, Sunday. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the 18-member squad for the three-match Test series against the Proteas. Previously, Team India thrashed New Zealand in both T20I and Test series by 3-0 and 1-0 respectively.

Now, they will be keen to continue the same momentum in the away series against South Africa on their soil. Moreover, the Ajinkya Rahane led side, has learned a lot from the first Test against New Zealand as they failed to beat the visiting side at Kanpur.

However, then Virat Kohli joined with the side in the Mumbai Test and conquered the series by defeating New Zealand with more than 350 runs in hand. Mayank Agarwal, Shreyas Iyer, Ravichandran Ashwin and a few more have performed well in the series and got the rewards for that.

Hardik Pandya might announce his retirement from the longest format of the game:

The flamboyant Baroda all-rounder Hardik Pandya might announce his retirement soon in the longest format of the game. Considering the recent reports from other sources, Hardik Pandya might take the call after suffering back to back injuries in his international career.

The 28-year-old wants to concentrate on limited-overs cricket and is keen to get back to his prime form likewise in his earlier career. Due to his lack of performance in the recently concluded Indian Premier League, Mumbai Indians didn't retain him ahead of the IPL 2022.

Also Read: BCCI has announced an 18-member squad for the South Africa Test series; Shubman Gill dropped

"He has been struggling with injuries for a while and although he hasn’t informed us officially, he is considering Test retirement. It will help him keep his focus on white-ball cricket," a BCCI official said. 

"He was anyway not in our plans for Tests. It will be a great loss for sure but we have to prepare a backup. He is just 28 and it is going to be a big miss if he does take a final call on quitting Test cricket," the official added.