"This is not some injury which could be managed with injections" - BCCI Official on why Hardik Pandya was ruled out of the 2023 ODI World Cup
Team India all-rounder Hardik Pandya's World Cup campaign came to an unfortunate end as he was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament following an ankle injury. The team's vice-captain sustained the blow while trying to stop the ball on his followthrough in a league stage fixture against Bangladesh in Pune.
Following the results of the scans as well as a trip to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, the player was expected to be back for the latter stages of the tournament. However, right before Team India's penultimate league stage encounter against the Proteas, the decision to name a replacement was made. Pace bowler Prasidh Krishna has been named in the squad in place of the all-rounder.
According to a BCCI official, the swelling around the injured area resurfaced, leading the team management to make the call. The BCCI official told PTI on the condition of anonymity:
"As it has been said earlier, Pandya doesn't have any fracture and only had minor tear. He had resumed training but suddenly considerable amount of swelling developed in left ankle region and he wouldn't have been fit to bowl."
The source continued:
"This is not some injury which could be managed with injections. Considerable swelling resurfaced on Thursday and unless it subsides, he can't do skills training for some more time."
Team India have resorted to specialist players in the absence of Hardik Pandya and now have a settled playing XI. All-rounder Shardul Thakur was dropped from the side, and the do of Suryakumar Yadav and Mohammed Shami have settled in quite well over the course of the last few matches.
Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson and Prasidh Krishna were the leading options to replace Hardik Pandya in World Cup squad
The general expectation was that the management would rope in another all-rounder like Axar Patel to replace Hardik Pandya in the World Cup squad. However, the think tank went in a completely different direction, bringing in Prasidh Krishna as a backup to the in-form pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami.
The report from PTI mentions that the three options to replace Pandya were Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson and Prasidh Krishna. The selectors were apparently not interested in roping in an all-rounder with Shardul Thakur and R Ashwin present in the squad.
As Ishan Kishan provides the left-handed batting option as well as the back-up wicket-keeping option, the prospect of bringing in either Varma or Samson was ruled out.
Team India will take on the Proteas at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday, November 5.