Since twisting his left ankle trying to stop a boundary in an ODI World Cup 2023 match against Bangladesh, India’s best seam-bowling all-rounder, Hardik Pandya, has been sidelined.
Over the years, Hardik Pandya has missed several significant assignments due to his well-documented history of injuries. Rohit Sharma, the team’s regular captain, has not participated in the game’s shortest version since the 2022 T20 World Cup. When Rohit was not available, Hardik led India in T20Is. For India’s most recent Twenty20 International matches against Australia and South Africa, the Baroda all-rounder was unable to recover in time.
According to recent rumors, Hardik Pandya, 30, may miss the upcoming IPL season as well as the home T20I series against Afghanistan in January, delaying his comeback to the cricket pitch for a considerable amount of time.
“There is no update on Hardik’s fitness status as of now and one can say there remains a big question mark about his availability before the end of the IPL,” according to a BCCI source.
This will be a devastating blow to the Mumbai Indians as well as to India. The five-time IPL champions selected Hardik from the Gujarat Titans in the draft, and he took over as captain from the late, great Rohit Sharma. It was announced earlier this month that Hardik Pandya will participate in a specially designed rehabilitation program at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.
India’s search for the series captain in Afghanistan is getting more intense.
The Asian giants will have some difficult decisions to make when selecting a skipper for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan that will take place at home. In lieu of the injured Hardik, Suryakumar Yadav captained the Indian squad in the Twenty20 Internationals against Australia and South Africa. When facing the “Blue Tigers,” the Mumbai batter would have been the natural choice to take the field as captain. But he suffered a grade-II injury in the third Twenty20 International against the Proteas in Johannesburg, twisting his ankle, which will keep him out of action until February.
Due to a broken finger, Ruturaj Gaikwad, who helped India win the gold medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, will not be participating in the Test series against South Africa. Earlier in December, during a three-match Twenty20 International series between India and South Africa, Ravindra Jadeja served as vice captain. He might be allowed to take the lead for the team. The Saurashtra all-rounder will have to play a major part in the five-match Test series against England immediately following the series against Afghanistan; thus, the selectors would want to exercise caution in how much of his workload he takes on.
On January 11, India and Afghanistan will play their first Twenty20 international match in Mohali. Bengaluru (January 17) and Indore (January 14) will host the following two matches, respectively. On January 25, in Hyderabad, India will play its first Test match against England.
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