'After my back surgery, playing Test cricket will be a challenge'

India's Hardik Pandya during the fourth Test against England at Southampton in 2018. Pic /AFP

Flamboyant Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya is wary of risking his injury-ravaged back for Test cricket right now and says it's because he understands his "importance" in the white-ball formats. Pandya hasn't played a Test since September 2018, appearing in a total of 11 five-day matches, but has cemented his place as a big-hitting all-rounder in the limited overs formats. He is currently on road to recovery from the back injury which needed a surgery last year.

"I see myself as a back-up seamer for sure. After my back surgery, I don't know, playing Test cricket right now will be a challenge," Pandya told Cricbuzz. "If I was a Test player and didn't have the game in white-ball cricket, I could go now and risk my back in Tests but I know my importance in white ball cricket. It has happened that I played Tests and then didn't do well in ODIs and T20s because my plus point is my energy," he explained.

Pandya first picked up the back injury in 2018 when he was stretchered off the field during an Asia Cup match against Pakistan. Recalling the day, Pandya said he thought his career was over. "I genuinely thought that my career is over because I'd never seen anyone being stretchered off. I was knocked out for 10 minutes, after that the pain never went down."

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