Krunal Pandya eyes India return after five years

• Krunal Pandya hopes to earn an India recall after five years away
• He scored 226 runs and took 14 wickets for RCB in IPL 2026 title win
• The 34-year-old all-rounder remains focused on his passion for cricket

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) all-rounder Krunal Pandyahas expressed his desire to represent India again, stating that he remains hopeful of earning

a national team recall despite being away from international cricket for nearly five years.

Krunal played a significant role in RCB’s successful Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 title defence, making valuable contributions with both bat and ball throughout the campaign. The experienced all-rounder scored 226 runs at a strike rate of 145.80 and claimed 14 wickets at an economy rate of 8.41 as the Bengaluru-based franchise lifted its second consecutive IPL trophy.

The 34-year-old last donned the Indian jersey in a T20I against Sri Lanka in Colombo on July 25, 2021. Since then, he has continued to feature prominently in the IPL, representing franchises such as Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and RCB.

In a recent interaction, the left-arm spinner reflected on his international journey and reiterated that playing for India remains the ultimate dream for any cricketer.

“There is no better feeling than playing for the country. When I was six or seven years old, there was no IPL. The biggest dream for any cricketer was to play for India. I dreamt about it my entire life and got that opportunity in 2018. In the 18 games I played, I did decently well. I won a Man of the Match in Australia and New Zealand and a Man of the Series in the West Indies. I had a good run with the Indian team. Later, when I got another opportunity in One-day cricket, I did pretty well again,” he said speaking to Times of India.

While acknowledging that being out of contention for the national side can be frustrating, Krunal revealed that he no longer allows selection discussions to dominate his thoughts. Instead, he focuses on his passion for the game and the reasons that inspired him to pursue cricket in the first place.

“I don’t think too much about selection now. Of course, I am human and there is disappointment at times. But, you have to remind yourself why you started playing cricket. I have immense love for the sport, and that’s what keeps me going,” he added.

Despite the long wait since his last international appearance, the all-rounder insisted that his hopes of making a comeback remain intact.

“Yeah, hope is always there, right? I am hopeful that I’ll get the opportunity again to play for the country. Fingers crossed, but I am hopeful,” he concluded.

Krunal has enjoyed a strong resurgence in recent seasons and was one of RCB’s most reliable performers during their title-winning IPL 2026campaign.