The announcement on Saturday by the International Cricket Council (ICC) that all-rounder Hardik Pandya will miss the rest of the competition dealt a severe blow to India's undefeated World Cup 2023 campaign. The choice to replace Hardik is fast bowler Prasidh Krishna, who just made a comeback to the Indian team after a year-long injury setback.
During the play against Bangladesh in Pune on October 19, the top all-rounder for India twisted his ankle and fell awkwardly. He hobbled off the pitch and did not return to the competition. Due to his injury, India was unable to participate in their following three matches against England, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand. It has now been revealed that Hardik has not recovered in time to be a part of the remaining campaign. The BCCI and the team management were confident that Hardik, who has since been receiving treatment and rehabilitation at the NCA, would be fit for the semifinals, which India qualified for on Thursday.
"Pandya hurt his left ankle while bowling during India's World Cup match against Bangladesh in Pune last month and it has now been confirmed that the 30-year-old has failed to recover in time to part of the rest of the campaign," the International Cricket Council said in a statement.
When a ligament rupture was taken into consideration, Hardik's injury—which was first thought to be little more than an ankle sprain—took a catastrophic turn. However, considering it was a Grade 1 injury, a 10-to 15-day recovery period was anticipated. It's evident that the harm done to Hardik's injury is more serious than initially believed. The news is likely to be devastating for India since, in addition to being a potent batsman in his finishing role, Hardik provided the team with the ideal balance by being available as their sixth bowling option. India has added Mohammed Shami and Suryakumar Yadav to their starting XI in his place, a move that has and is expected to further fill the vacuum left by Hardik.
His successor Prasidh has taken 33 wickets in 19 ODI and T20I matches while playing for India. Due to a lumbar stress fracture of his own, he missed nearly a year of play. He returned in the two Twenty20 Internationals vs Ireland, taking 2/32 and 2/29. Appointed to the Indian team for the Asia Cup, Prasidh played one match, scoring one wicket against Bangladesh, and then appeared in two One-Day Internationals (ODIs) against Australia, scoring two wickets (2/56 in Indore and one/45 in Rajkot), including the removal of David Warner.
After initially being left off of India's World Cup roster, Prasidh went on to play for Karnataka in the country's premier domestic T20 tournament, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In this competition, he has taken wickets in four matches so far: one against Madhya Pradesh, one against Nagaland, one against Uttar Pradesh, and two against Tripura. But it doesn't seem realistic that Prasidh will get to participate considering India's incredible seven-match winning streak and Mohammed Shami's 14-wicket performance in only three games.
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