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India’s vice-captain Hardik Pandya will be linking up with the Rohit Sharma-led side in New York on Sunday afternoon ahead of the upcoming Men’s T20 World Cup.
A report in Cricbuzz on Sunday said, Pandya had been vacationing overseas at an undisclosed location after Mumbai Indians’ campaign ended in IPL 2024 with a defeat to Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede Stadium, and is now on his way to New York to link up with the Indian team for the showpiece event starting from 1 June.
Pandya had a torrid time in IPL 2024, where he was constantly under the spotlight for his disappointing all-round performances post an ankle injury layoff and was even booed by the crowd in both home and away games.
A lot was expected from him as a leader, especially after he captained Gujarat Titans to IPL 2022 title and IPL 2023 runners-up finish. But Mumbai Indians finished at the bottom of the points table.
It also said Virat Kohli sought permission to join the squad late.
Apart from Rohit, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and traveling substitutes Shubman Gill and Khaleel Ahmed, left for New York from Mumbai on Saturday night.
India are set to play their lone warm-up game against Bangladesh at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on 1 June.
India were the inaugural winners of the Men’s T20 World Cup in 2007 and are aiming to claim the silverware for just the second time through the upcoming tournament.
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