Hardik Pandya Has Recovered From Ankle Injury, To Captain India in Home T20Is Vs Afghanistan, Says Report
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya has recovered from the ankle injury he sustained during the World Cup 2023 and will captain the national team in the home T20I series vs Afghanistan. An earlier report stated that Pandya was doubtful for the T20Is and even the next edition of Indian Premier League (IPL 2024). However, as per a sources, the all-rounder is fit again and ready to take on Afghanistan in the T20Is.
“He has completely recovered from his ankle injury. He has been training every day,” souce to Times of India. The source also confirmed that the talks of him missin the T20Is and IPL 2024 are just rumours and there is no truth in it.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has not said anything on Pandya’s return date yet. Earlier this month, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had said that Pandya’s fitness is being monitored on a day-to-day basis at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). Shah had added that Pandya is working hard to get fit as soon as possible and the media will be informed whenever he is ready to make a comeback to the national team.
Pandya has injured his ankle while fielding off his own bowling during the World Cup match vs Bangladesh in Pune after which he was replaced by Prasidh Krishna.
Since then Pandya has been out of the national side. This month he also became headlines for a completely different reason as Mumbai Indians (MI) traded him in from Gujarat Titans (GT) in an all-cash deal. This was a first time in the history of IPL that a a league-winning captain was traded. If that move was not shocking, Pandya was named as the MI captain, replacing Rohit Sharma. The all-rounder has witnessed massive online hate online after becoming the new MI captain as fans are upset over Rohit’s removal.
India do not have many T20Is left this year before the World Cup, which makes the three games vs Afghanistan very crucial. It is important that Pandya, who is likely to lead India in the World Cup in June, is fit sooner and takes charge. It is also important from India’s perspective that Pandya stays fit till the World Cup starts. An injury to him can cause huge headache for the team management. India have not won an ICC trophy for more than 10 years now. The Men in Blue have not won T20 World Cup after th first edition in 2007 whe MS Dhoni-led side wrote history in South Africa.