Hardik Pandya is recovering from an ankle injury at the NCA in Bengaluru and might need a couple more days before returning to action for India.
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya is likely to be ruled out of India’s upcoming World Cup matches against England on October 29 and Sri Lanka on November 2 as he is yet to completely recover from an ankle injury he picked up during India’s game against Bangladesh on October 19.
Hardik Pandya continues to get treated for a sprain in his left ankle at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. Hardik has not yet started bowling in the nets as he targets a return toward the business end of the World Cup, according to sources.
Hardik did not travel to Dharamsala with the rest of the Indian team for their game against New Zealand on October 22. He reached the NCA in Bengaluru on Monday to great treated and monitored by the medical team at the facility.
Notably, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) had said in a statement earlier this week that Hardik would join the team in Lucknow ahead of their match against England but that doesn’t seem to be the case now.
The team management is also of the idea to not rush him back into action and give him enough time to completely recover from the ankle injury.
“Pandya has suffered a bad sprain but fortunately not a fracture. The BCCI medical team wants to take maximum precaution. He is likely to miss next two to three matches. The team wants him fully fit for the knock-out stage,” news agency PTI quoted a source as saying.
In Hardik Pandya’s absence against New Zealand, India dropped Shardul Thakur and played Mohammed Shami and Suryakumar Yadav in the XI. Shami responded well by picking up a 5-wicket haul in his first match in World Cup 2023.
India are at the top of the World Cup 2023 points table with 5 wins from as many matches and look set to make the semi-finals.