Delhi: Looking at the impressive manner in which Team India defeated Bangladesh in the Chennai Test, it seems that there is no scope for any major change in the team structure except for swapping places between the same kind of players in the playing eleven. Even then, the news of Hardik Pandya's return to the Test team is in the news these days. Hardik himself has contributed equally in making this news true and it is being seen from his side that he is serious about playing Tests again. His previous record: 532 runs in 11 Tests with one 100 and four 50s at an average of 31.29 and 17 wickets at an average of 31.05. Let us look at this whole issue in a systematic way.

How this news spread: Hardik Pandya is a pace-bowling all-rounder and since he has shown no interest in playing Test cricket since 2018, it was assumed that he wants to remain a specialist in white ball cricket only. He has been away from red ball matches since his back surgery in 2019. Even in domestic cricket, he played his last first class match for Baroda in 2018. Now he has been seen practicing with the red ball and from that it seemed that he wants to return to red ball cricket in the domestic circuit and it is clear that his eyes are on the Test XI. When he went to London, he also trained at the Mighty Willow Cricket Academy under the supervision of Gujarat Titans assistant coach Naeem Amin.

So when will the return actually take place: No one has the answer to this question. It is reported that he will return to active cricket for Baroda in the T20 tournament Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. This Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is in the last days of November while Ranji Trophy starts from October 11 and he is also practicing with the red ball. Therefore, it is possible that he may return from this and play in Baroda's first match against Mumbai.

If there is a comeback from Ranji Trophy, then the focus will be on the Test team: Now we can say that if he is fit to play 4-day first class matches for Baroda, then 5-day Tests will not be a big challenge. His name is actually being discussed for playing in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but it can be easily guessed that the selectors would definitely want him to play Tests in India before that and pass the test of need and fitness. Now coincidentally, there is an opportunity and the Test series against New Zealand is starting from 16 October.

Is there really a place for him in the Test team in Australia: From the above discussion it is clear that even if he returns to the Test team against New Zealand, the real test for him will be the Test series in Australia. Now the question is whether there will be a place for him in the playing eleven there? The answer to this is that India does not have a single seam bowling all-rounder at the moment and in Australia, for better balance in the Test scheme, such a player will be needed. R Ashwin / Ravindra Jadeja will easily make a place for him in the playing eleven. If we look at the last 4 Test series played in Australia, then after different experiments in the first 3 Tests (Jadeja played 2 and Ashwin 3 Tests in the series), India played Shardul Thakur as a seam bowling all-rounder in the fourth Test. This time anyway it is a 5 Test series.

That is why there are indications that he may have received a signal from the team management that he is on the radar and should be ready for the challenge ahead. For the last few years, the team has been looking for a reliable fast bowler all-rounder and due to his absence, the balance of the team also got disturbed to some extent. Shardul fulfilled this deficiency very well but Pandya's talent is different and during the T20 World Cup it was also seen that he is bowling, so why not return to Tests? A player with talent like him can fit perfectly in the playing XI as the fourth fast bowler and number 7 batsman for the Test series in Australian conditions.

So the whole responsibility is on Pandya himself and no one else: He will have to play domestic cricket to prove himself as an all-rounder. Since the T20 World Cup final in June, he has played only two T20 Internationals against Sri Lanka, while he was not selected for the Duleep Trophy. So now he will have to play in the Ranji Trophy. This will also fulfill the condition of playing domestic cricket to become a contender for team selection. The Bangladesh T20I series will definitely give an assessment of his fitness.