NEW DELHI: With Hardik Pandya set to miss India’s next game against New Zealand in Dharamshala on Sunday, Rohit Sharma & Co. have a headache at their hands to maintain the balance of the side. Pandya, who walked off the field after trying to stop the ball on his follow-through during the clash against Bangladesh in Pune, had sustained an injury to his left ankle.
As a result, the all-rounder was advised to rest and will not travel to Dharamshala for the next game. While being assessed by the BCCI medical team, he is expected to join the squad in Lucknow a week from now for the match against England.
What it means to the team management is the bigger question. For it seemed like the Indian squad was one injury away from making multiple changes and that could be the case up next. A vital member and vice-captain of the side, Pandya was Sharma’s third seamer and sixth bowling option, allowing the captain to have Shardul Thakur as a buffer at No. 8.
Pandya bats at 6 and bowls six to seven overs at least based on the need and has made a bigger impact than Thakur has so far. Thakur bowled nine overs for the first time in Pune because Pandya wasn’t available and finished with the figures of 1/59. In the first three games, Pandya had bowled 16 overs with five scalps. “Hardik can win you matches with the bat on his good day. He can also take those three to four wickets with his bowling. Any fast bowling all-rounder is a luxury for a captain,” former India cricketer and Gujarat Titans assistant coach Aashish Kapoor said recently.
In his absence, if India needs an extra batter, they would have to go with Ishan Kishan or Suryakumar Yadav which means they will have five bowlers with Thakur as the third seamer. If they want to maintain their six bowling options, Sharma will have to go with both Ashwin and Thakur, which means Ravindra Jadeja will be batting at No. 6 and Ashwin/Thakur at 7. Should they decide to go with five bowlers, they would rather want all frontline options with Mohammed Shami coming in for Thakur and one of the batters replacing Pandya. To fulfil what Pandya offered, India would have to make multiple changes.
The silver lining for India is that after the New Zealand clash, they have six days before playing England on October 29. The team management would be hoping that Pandya, who might visit the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, if the need arises, would get fit in time for their sixth game of the tournament. They would want to approach the Dharamshala clash as a one-off and pick the best bowling attack for the conditions and back the batting might to continue against the New Zealand seam attack. Either way, the one thing that is clear is that they will not seek any injury replacement for Pandya for there aren’t many who offer what he does to the team.