Star India all-rounder and vice-captain Hardik Pandya, who has been ruled out of the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 after failing to recover from his ankle injury, has said that it’s tough for him to digest that he will miss the remainder of the tournament.
Hardik sustained an injury to his left ankle while fielding on his own bowling during India’s match against Bangladesh at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune on October 19. After that injury, he missed the New Zealand clash in Dharamshala and England match in Lucknow and was undergoing treatment at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.
However, the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Saturday confirmed that Pandya has failed to recover in time to be part of the rest of the campaign.
His place in India’s squad will be taken by Prasidh Krishna, with the inexperienced fast bowler parachuted into the playing group after being approved by the tournament’s Event Technical Committee.
The 30-year-old Pandya penned down a heartfelt message on the X and passed on his best wishes to his teammates as they attempt to claim a third World Cup title and second on home soil.
“Tough to digest the fact that I will miss out on the remaining part of the World Cup. I’ll be with the team, in spirit, cheering them on every ball of every game. Thanks for all the wishes, the love, and the support has been incredible. This team is special and I’m sure we’ll make everyone proud. Love, always, HP ” wrote Hardik on X.
Pandya’s replacement Krishna has just 19 white-ball matches to his name for India and was last seen at international level when he picked up the prized wicket of David Warner in taking 1/45 from nine overs against Australia just prior to the World Cup.
While Krishna has shown signs of promise in the past with 33 international wickets, the right-armer is going to be competing with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj for a place in India’s pace attack.
India and South Africa currently occupy the top two places on the World Cup standings and the winner of Sunday’s match in Kolkata will be in the box seat to finish the group stage of the tournament in first spot.