Former Australian spinner Shane Warne has said that he would "love to see" Hardik Pandya in the Indian Test team. Pandya, who was selected in the Indian limited-overs squad purely as a batsman, impressed with his performances throughout the three ODIs and T20Is on the Australian tour.
Warne said that Pandya is among his "top-three favourite cricketers" in the world.
“I would love to have Hardik Pandya in the Test side. I said it weeks ago, he is among my top-three favourite cricketers in the planet, I love him. Everyone said, ‘geez, that is a big call’, and I said ‘no, he’s awesome’,” Warne told Sports Tak.
“And suddenly, he does what he did in the ODIs and T20Is and now everyone is jumping on the bandwagon - ‘How good is Hardik Pandya!’ I just love to see him in Test side,” he added.
Warne believes that Pandya could've helped the Indian Test team in the absence of Virat Kohli, who will return to India after the first Test to attend the birth of his first child.
“I think he is in such a great form. With the loss of Virat Kohli, Pandya brings in so much with what he could do with the bat and with the way he can bowl, I think he helps the Indian team walk a bit taller," said Warne.
“He is a bit of rockstar, he’s got the swagger, he’s got the strut, he’s mr. cool. When he speaks, you think he is from the West Indies. He just comes off from the beach in Antigua,” Warne said laughing.
