The Indian cricket team is on a roll as it has become the first team to enter the semi-finals of the ongoing ICC ODI World Cup 2023 after winning its seventh match which was against Sri Lanka. India is the only team in the tournament which is still unbeatable and it is quite obvious that Rohit Sharma-led squad will like to keep things like this till it wins the World Cup.
However, cricket experts feel that things may get tough for the Indian team as the tournament will progress because of the absence of Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya. The Gujarat Titans skipper suffered an ankle injury in the match against Bangladesh and for quite some time, there were discussions as to who will be dropped from the team after Hardik Pandya will return because every player is performing pretty well.
Earlier, it was heard that Hardik Pandya will be available for selection for the match against Sri Lanka but that didn’t happen and now it has been confirmed that he will miss the remainder of the tournament as he hasn’t been able to recover from his injury. India may have won all the matches till now but in the knock-outs, India may miss its sixth bowler who has the talent and skills of bringing his team out of trouble with the bat as well.
Prasidh Krishna, the Karnataka pacer has been named as the replacement of Hardik Pandya but his chances of making it in the playing eleven are very less as all the three Indian pacers, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj are bowling superbly.
Prasidh Krishna made his debut in the year 2021 and since then, he has represented the country in 17 ODIs and 2 T20Is.
Hardik Pandya also took to Instagram to express his disappointment on missing the remaining World Cup as a cricketer. He posted a photo of himself with the caption, “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”
Get Well Soon, Hardik Pandya!
