India’s star all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been out of action following his ankle injury during the 2023 World Cup. He missed the white-ball series against Australia at home and the campaign in South Africa in December.
It was expected that Hardik would recover before the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan in early January, but now the hope is fading away as he is yet to heal from his injury, says a PTI report adding that India may miss the services of the all-rounder yet again.
Apart from this, a PTI report says that the star player may miss the IPL season 2024 too.
ALSO READ: Hardik Pandya had ‘captaincy’ condition for his return to Mumbai Indians, Rohit Sharma was in the loop: Report
“There is no update on Hardik’s fitness status as of now and one can say there remains a big question mark of him being available before the end of IPL,” PTI quoted a BCCI source on condition of anonymity.
Hardik’s missing in action will hurt the IPL franchise Mumbai Indians who have announced him as skipper for the 2024 season. Recently, MI ended Rohit Sharma’s 10-year-long tenure as a leader, during which he led the franchise to five titles.
In November 2023, Hardik was traded to MI for Gujarat Titans in an all-cash deal, that raised several eyebrows.
Last week, a report by Indian Express even claimed that Hardik Pandya’s return to Mumbai Indians was tied to the captaincy role.
The report added that Rohit Sharma was informed about the decision during ICC World Cup 2023 and the Team India skipper decided to play under Hardik Pandya during the IPL 2024 season.
Speaking on the issue, MI’s Global Head of Performance Mahela Jayawardene had said, as quoted by Indian Express, “It is part of legacy building and staying true to the MI philosophy of being future-ready. Mumbai Indians have always been blessed with exceptional leadership right from Sachin to Harbhajan and Ricky to Rohit, who while contributing to the immediate success have always had an eye on strengthening the team for the future. It is in keeping with this philosophy that Hardik Pandya will assume captaincy of Mumbai Indians for the IPL 2024 season.”
MI loses 400k subscribers:
Following the announcement of making Hardik Pandya replace Rohit Sharma as skipper, 5-time IPL winning franchise Mumbai Indians lost over 400k followers on social media.
Now with the non-surety of Hardik Pandya to play in the IPL 2024, netizens have taken a swipe on social media. Here are a few of them:
India vs Afghanistan T20 series:
As per schedule, India is all set to face Afghanistan in a three-match T20I series between January 11 and 17, marking India’s final T20I assignment before the World Cup in June.
Earlier, reports arrived that Suryakumar Yadav would be missing the series after he had twisted his ankle while fielding against South Africa in Johannesburg in a T20I game. There could be a suspected tear that could take six weeks to heal.
Now reports say that there are little chances of Hardik recovering from his ankle injury anytime soon. This will result in not only him missing the the Afghanistan series, but also might be out of the IPL 2024 season.
Even Ruturaj Gaikwad would not be available for the Afghanistan series due to his right ring finger injury.
With agency inputs.
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