Hardik Pandya to Miss Sunday's NZ Game, Will Join Team for England Match: BCCI

Hardik Pandya will miss India's ICC World Cup 2023 match against New Zealand on Sunday, BCCI has confirmed.

PTI

The BCCI has shared an update on Hardik Pandya after the all-rounder injured his left ankle during the ICC World Cup 2023 match against Bangladesh at Pune's MCA on Thursday.

"The all-rounder was taken for scans and is advised rest. He will be under the constant supervision of the BCCI Medical Team.

He will not be taking the flight to Dharamsala with the team on 20^th October and will now join the team directly in Lucknow where India play England," said the note.

Pune: India's Hardik Pandya is helped by teammates after he suffered an injury during the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 match between India and Bangladesh, at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023.

(Photo: PTI)

The Indian team beat Bangladesh by 7 wickets on Thursday in Pune to maintain their winning run in the ICC World Cup 2023. Rohit Sharma's side next face New Zealand on Sunday in Dharamsala in a top of the table clash with both teams having won all four of their matches so far. New Zealand though occupy the number one spot due to their better net run rate.

While Hardik will not make the journey to Himachal Pradesh for that game, the BCCI's note indicates he will be available for the team's sixth league match after that - against defending champions England on 29 October in Lucknow.

During Match 17 of the ICC World Cup 2023 in Pune, while trying to stop a boundary hit by Litton Das off third ball of the ninth over, Pandya seemed to twist his left ankle in his follow-through after slipping in the process of saving the four.

The Indian team physio ran out immediately to attend Hardik on his left ankle for several minutes, with Virat Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma by his side. After some time, the all-rounder tried to continue bowling, but couldn’t do so due to too much pain in his strapped left ankle and walked off for getting further treatment.

In his absence, Virat Kohli bowled the three remaining deliveries in the over, with the BCCI later saying that time Pandya was taken for scans. Pandya has been a vital cog in the wheel for India in white-ball cricket and is irreplaceable due to his all-round skills – batting in top six and being the third fast-bowling option in the team.

Though he batted only once, making an unbeaten 11 in India’s opening tournament win over Australia in Chennai, Pandya had picked five wickets till the ankle injury came in. With him now missing the match against New Zealand, India need to see how they cover up for the skills he brings to the table.

They have a fast-bowling all-round option in Shardul Thakur, but he is not close to being called a like-for-like replacement for Pandya. An option can be that Thakur plays the role of Pandya with both bat and ball or bring in a specialist batter in his absence while operate with only five bowlers in their bowling innings. Another option that India could look at is to bring in a specialist batter and bowler respectively while leaving out Thakur.

With four wins in as many matches, hosts India are one of two teams to be still unbeaten in the ongoing Men’s ODI World Cup. The two-time champions will next face New Zealand, who are the only other unbeaten side in the competition.