'Ultimate Goal...': Krunal Pandya Keeps India Dream Alive
Krunal Pandya has reiterated that representing India remains his ultimate ambition, even as he continues to focus on consistent performances for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the ongoing Indian Premier League season.
Pandya, who last featured for India during the July 2021 tour of Sri Lanka, played his most recent international matches in the third ODI on July 20 and the second T20I on July 25 at Colombo.
Watch | Brother vs Brother as Krunal Pandya Celebrates Aggressively After Hardik’s Wicket
He has not made an international appearance since then.
"The ultimate goal is to represent the country, and I don't dwell too much on it," Pandya told the reporters.
"And yeah, whatever opportunity I got playing for the country in white ball, I did a pretty decent job at that time. It's just I want to do my thing, and the rest of the things, I leave it to God," he added.
The all rounder has represented India in 5 ODIs and 19 T20Is, scoring a combined 254 runs across 24 matches while picking up 17 wickets.
War on Iran: The War That No One Won
10 Apr 2026 - Vol 04 | Issue 66
And the price of surviving it
In the IPL, Pandya has amassed 1757 runs in 146 matches at an average of 21.96. With the ball, he has taken 98 wickets at an economy rate of 7.51.
During Sunday night's match at the Wankhede Stadium, Pandya and Suyash Sharma led the RCB spin attack, combining for figures of 8-0-73-3.
Suyash conceded 47 runs while claiming two wickets, while Pandya returned an economy rate of 6.50 and picked up one wicket.
The duo accounted for Ryan Rickelton, Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav.
Pandya attributed his performance to an understanding of ground dimensions and disciplined bowling.
However, former Mumbai Indians batter Ambati Rayudu offered a different perspective, suggesting that the shortcomings lay more with the MI batting unit than the effectiveness of the RCB spinners.
The MI spin pair of Mitchell Santner and Mayank Markande returned combined figures of 6-0-83-1.
According to analysis by ESPNcricinfo, MI spinners bowled 27 percent of their deliveries full, with another 18.9 percent classified as yorkers or full tosses.
In contrast, RCB spinners bowled only 4.2 percent of deliveries on a full length and 4.2 percent as yorkers, without conceding a single full toss.
"It shows that the MI batsmen are not prepared to use their feet against the spinners. If you really have to be good against these lengths, you need to use your feet, come down the pitch and then try and take them on or hit straight," Rayudu said.
(With inputs from ANI)