With their winning momentum intact, India are still not sure whether their all-rounder Hardik Pandya will be available for the match against Sri Lanka in the World Cup, which will be played in the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on this Thursday.
India’s star all-rounder Hardik Pandya had tested his ankle while playing against Bangladesh in the World Cup earlier this month, and he has been working hard on his fitness and recovery so that he is able to join the team back again at a later stage in the league round of the World Cup.
The absence of Hardik Pandya has certainly created a selection issue for the team since this availability and selection does not create any sort of imbalance, which has certainly been noticed in the last few matches as India have tried to juggle their way to the problem.
After damaging the ligaments of his left ankle, Hardik Pandya has missed matches against New Zealand and England — both crucial contests in which the Indian team was required to be at its best — and it remains to be seen when the star all-rounder will be back with the team again.
“The medical team is looking at that and are very much in touch with Hardik and the NCA [National Cricket Academy] as well. We’re hoping to get an update in a couple of days. But we’ll see,”
said India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey after the team defeated England by a huge margin of 100 runs in their World Cup contest played in Lucknow last Sunday.
However, the absence of Hardik Pandya has forced India to bring in two different players in order to create the ones that they usually have with the all-rounder available.
Mohammed Shami has been excellent on his comeback to the Indian team taking a total of nine wickets including a five wicket haul in the last two matches, whereas the responsibility of having extra batting in the lineup has been carried pretty decently by Suryakumar Yadav, who made a vital score of 49 runs against England in their last match.
But given the current form and momentum, is it me simply to assume that India will not be rushing to hell are they Pandya back in the playing XI given that they have continued winning their matches in the World Cup.
India will next take on Sri Lanka on November 2 in Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium, following which they will travel to Kolkata for a World Cup listed league stage game against an inform South Africa side, which could be a perfect dress rehearsal before the semifinal round.
India has been absolutely dominant in the World Cup so far, winning all their six matches. India started with a six wicket victory over Australia, defeated Afghanistan by a huge margin of eight wickets and then crushed Pakistan in their marquee clash which was played in front of a full house in Ahmedabad.