Hardik Pandya Injury Update: Mumbai Indians Captain To Miss T20I Series Vs Afghanistan But Will Be Fit By IPL 2024, Says Report
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya will miss the T20I series vs Afghanistan. The Mumbai Indian (MI) captain was going to captain the Men in Blue in the three-match series at home but he will not be fit by the time the matches begin. The first T20I is on January 11. Hardik had injured his ankle during the World Cup 2023 match vs Bangladesh and has been healing it since then. Hardik missed all the remaining matches since then and was also rested for the tour of South Africa.
As per several media reports, Hardik will not be able to get back to his fittest best by the time the Afghanistan series comes along. Who will captain in absence of Pandya is the big question. Some reports emerged that Rohit Sharma could be back in the T20I fold for India. The Test captain refused to comment on his T20I return at the recently-held press conference in Centurion. If he returns to T20Is, it will be interesting to see if Rohit leads the Men in Blue against neighbours or not.
A lot happened between Pandya, Rohit and Mumbai Indians as well as change of leadership duties. In what was a shocking news related to IPL, Mumbai Indians decided to trade in the Gujarat Titans captain in an all-cash deal. Pandya was soon named as the new captain of the Mumbai Indians which caused a social media stir. Fans took to the social medis websites and trolled Pandya. Mumbai Indians also reportedly lost lakhs of followers on their Instagram page after Rohit was removed as captain.