India all-rounder Hardik Pandya pulled out of the India A team’s tour of New Zealand on Saturday after he failed mandatory fitness tests in Mumbai.
The selectors had picked him in the squad without testing him in the Ranji Trophy games.
Tamil Nadu captain Vijay Shankar has been drafted into the India A team and he has already boarded the flight to New Zealand where they will play two 50-over warm-up games, three List A games and two four-day ‘Tests’ against the home A team.
It has been learnt that Pandya failed a couple of mandatory fitness tests and his scores were well below the permissible range suggesting that he is far from being fit for international cricket. In this situation, pulling him out of the India A squad was expected.
India A team’s fitness regimen doesn’t have any Yo Yo tests.