Hardik Pandya is so weak, he can't survive in a single format: Ex-Pakistan captain criticises all-rounder

Hardik Pandya was once considered one of the most important members of the Indian cricket team across formats. He was contributing well with both the bat and the ball and had almost become indispensable in all three formats of the game. However, the star all-rounder is currently not part of India's squad in any of the three formats as he continues to deal with injuries and fitness concerns.

Hardik's fitness has been questioned by many in recent times as the all-rounder has failed to bowl regularly. Ever since his back surgery in 2020, he has not been able to contribute properly with the ball. He did not bowl at all for Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2021 and also played as a pure batter for India on several occasions.

He bowled only at times when a few overs were desperately required from him. Recently, India's former head coach Ravi Shastri said Pandya needs to work on his fitness to be able to bowl at least four overs regularly in T20Is. Reacting to Shastri's comments, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt criticised Pandya for his poor fitness.

Butt believes Pandya is too weak to even last in just one format and should be putting on some more muscles on his body to ensure he doesn't keep getting injured easily. 

"Hardik Pandya's body is so weak that he can't even survive in a single format. He needs to put on some muscle by weight training and proper diet," Butt said in a video on his YouTube channel.

"Ravi Shastri recently said Pandya should go back and work hard so that he is able to bowl 4 overs. That means he can't even bowl 4 overs properly at the moment," he added.

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Pandya has struggled massively due to his fitness issues of late. While he didn't bowl at all in IPL 2021, his lack of bowling left India with only five options during the T20 World Cup 2021 where the Men in Blue failed to qualify for the semi-finals after two losses in the first two games.

The all-rounder, who was retained for a whopping Rs 11 crore by Mumbai Indians in 2018, has been released by the franchise ahead of the 2022 season. He might join one of the two new teams - Lucknow or Ahmedabad ahead of IPL 2022.