In the latest development surrounding headline-maker Hardik Pandya, the India all-rounder will miss the upcoming T20I series against Afghanistan and return during IPL 2024.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Per the latest reports, Hardik still hasn’t recovered from the ankle injury (sustained during the Bangladesh game in the World Cup 2023) and thus will remain out of contention from the home series against Afghanistan.
Pandya is currently undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy. Earlier, the BCCI, in consultation with the NCA doctors, penned an 18-week high-performance programme for Pandya, ensuring his match fitness with an eye on the T20 World Cup in the USA and the Caribbean next year.
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Although no official word on the same is out yet, per Sports Tak and sources close to the information, Pandya will sit out of the Afghanistan series starting January 11 in Mohali. India will play three T20Is, with the remaining two scheduled on January 14 and 17, respectively.
Meanwhile, with A-Listers like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli unlikely to feature in the Afghanistan series, Hardik – the stand-in captain in T20Is, was expected to lead. With him being out now, the BCCI’s selection committee might reappoint star batter Suryakumar Yadav (who captained during the home T20Is vs Australia) as the captain for the series.
Hardik to return during IPL 2024
Recently appointed as the new captain of the Mumbai Indians (MI) franchise, replacing veteran Rohit Sharma from the post, Hardik is likely to regain full fitness ahead of the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League, starting around March 20, 2024.
Pandya will lead the new-look Mumbai Indians team that returned with reasonable purchases in a recently concluded mini-auction in Dubai.
Players MI bought at the IPL 2024 mini-auction –
Gerald Coetzee (Rs. 5 crores), Dilshan Madushanka (Rs. 4.60 crores), Shreyas Gopal (Rs. 20 lakhs), Nuwan Thushara (Rs. 4.80 crores), Naman Dhir (Rs. 20 lakhs), Anshul Kamboj (Rs. 20 lakhs), Mohammad Nabi (Rs. 1.5 crores) and Shivalik Sharma (Rs. 20 lakhs)
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