The celebration of India’s bumper victory against Bangladesh in Pune – which is their 4th win in 4 games in the World Cup 2023 – carried a tinge of concern as Hardik Pandya is set to miss the next match against New Zealand. Only an official confirmation from the BCCI is awaited.
Hardik Pandya suffered an ankle injury while bowling his first over against Bangladesh at the MCA Stadium in Pune. Pandya appeared to twist his ankle in his follow-through while looking to stop a straight drive from Litton Das with his foot.
He went down on the ground and was soon attended by the physio. After getting about 5-7 minutes of treatment from the physio, Hardik Pandya tried to continue his over, but he couldn’t run properly and limped off the field. It was then announced that he was taken to the hospital for scans. He returned to the stadium during India’s innings but wasn’t needed to bat as Virat Kohli’s century steered India home comfortably.
Hardik Pandya to miss New Zealand match; Suryakumar Yadav is likely to come in
On Friday morning, The Indian Express reported that Hardik Pandya “will be missing India’s next game against New Zealand to be played in Dharamsala on October 22”. Further, the all-rounder who offers a great deal of balance to the side will fly to Bangalore and recover at the National Cricket Academy, where “he will be treated by a specialist doctor from England”.
The positive news for India and Hardik Pandya is that India will get a 6-day break after the New Zealand game as they will then take on England on October 29 in Lucknow. So, Pandya now has about 9 days to recover.
Hardik’s injury has now thrown a spanner in the works of Team India’s balance. His injury means that India would perhaps have to make two changes to the side they had kept unchanged for the last two games.
Either one of Suryakumar Yadav or Ishan Kishan could slot into Hardik’s place at number 6 – Suryakumar Yadav being a better finisher than Kishan, SKY is likely to get the nod – and Mohammed Shami is likely to replace Shardul Thakur as a proper seamer.
Suryakumar Yadav had hit two brilliant half-centuries against Australia last month and will be high on confidence, while Mohammed Shami is a senior pacer with the ability to give breakthroughs in all three phases of the game.
