With still recovering from his injury, Hardik Pandya hasn’t bowled yet and will be missing the upcoming two matches.
Hardik Pandya ruled out for England match
The all-rounder Hardik Pandya sustained an ankle injury in the match against Bangladesh in Pune. He just bowled three balls in the match and could not play anymore. He was taken for scans which revealed nothing serious, but the fall made his ankle swollen.
He missed the match against New Zealand where India won by four wickets on October 22. With his return expected for the match against England, the National Cricket Academy gave an update on the player’s conditions to the media.
The swelling on his ankle has subsided but he hasn’t bowled yet and will be under medication for some time.
“Hardik is still under medication. While the swelling on his left ankle has subsided considerably, he will start bowling only towards the weekend. Right now, important is to give him time to recover,” an NCA source told PTI.
India has won all five matches they have played in the ICC event so far tops the points table and has a high probability of making it to the semi-finals. He will be rested for upcoming matches against England and Sri Lanka.
This will allow him to heal completely for the last two knock-out matches. A source from BCCI has given an update on the player saying, “Pandya has suffered a bad sprain but fortunately not a fracture. The BCCI medical team wants to take maximum precautions.“
“He is likely to miss the next two to three matches. The team wants him fully fit for the knock-out stage,” added a BCCI source.
He is one of the important players for India in the World Cup. His presence made India have six bowling options without compromising on batting depth. His presence gives a possible chance for the skipper Rohit Sharma to field a bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur in the playing 11.
During the match against New Zealand, India needed two players to fill Pandya’s absence. Suryakumar Yadav played on the NO.6 spot in the batting lineup while Shami replaced Shardul Thakur.
Shami proved the selection to be one of the best as he picked 5 wicket haul and became the first Indian player to have multiple five-wicket hauls in World Cups.
The selectors hope the specialist batters and bowlers will do their job till Pandya returns to the playing 11. India will be facing England on October 29 at Ekana Sports City, Lucknow.
