Saturday, December 23, saw quite a lot of social media activity and headlines involving Hardik Pandya, the star India all-rounder and new Mumbai Indians skipper.
While rumors in the morning said that Hardik Pandya is still far away from reaching full fitness and could likely miss the IPL 2024 as well, by evening it was confirmed that the 30-year-old will be fit in time for the IPL 2024. However, he is very certain to miss next month’s home 3-T20I series against Afghanistan.
Hardik Pandya had twisted his ankle during the World Cup 2023 match against Bangladesh in Pune. Initially, it was believed that he would be available for the knockouts. However, it was never going to be the case. The injury was then revealed to be a tear and he missed the 5-T20I series against Australia, 3 T20Is and 3 ODIs in South Africa.
Will Hardik Pandya play in IPL 2024?
Yes, Hardik Pandya, currently recovering from an ankle injury, is very likely to be fit in time for the IPL 2024, where he will be leading the Mumbai Indians for the first time in his career.
Pandya was with MI from 2015 to 2021, winning 4 titles. He was then released by MI and was roped in by the Gujarat Titans, a new franchise in IPL 2022. After two very successful seasons at GT – Hardik led GT to IPL glory in 2022 and runner-up spot in 2023 – Hardik Pandya decided to return to MI in a trade but reportedly had a pre-condition of being given the MI captaincy immediately.
Ahead of the IPL 2024 auction, MI announced Pandya as their new skipper, replacing Rohit Sharma at the helm. Rohit captained MI to all their 5 IPL titles. But the 36-year-old was ruthlessly replaced as their skipper with MI having an eye on the future.
Mahela Jayawardene, the MI Global Director, said on this captaincy change: “It was a tough decision. It was emotional, to be honest. It’s fair on the fans as well (to react). I think everyone is emotional and we have to respect that as well. But at the same time, as a franchise, you have to make those decisions,”
