Hardik Pandya, India’s all-rounder, had an ankle injury during the 2023 World Cup and then was ruled out. He skipped the white-ball series against Australia at home as well as the December campaign in South Africa. While it was expected that he would recover in time for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan in early January, a report in PTI states that India may be without the all-rounder once again, raising concerns over their captaincy choice for the home contest.
India will play Afghanistan in a three-match Twenty20 International series from January 11 to 17, which will be their final T20I assignment before the World Cup in June. As per reports, after injuring his ankle during a T20I match in Johannesburg against South Africa, Suryakumar Yadav is expected to miss the series. Suryakumar might need six weeks to recover from a possible tear.
According to PTI, Hardik is not expected to fully recover from his ankle injury very soon and hence will not only miss the Afghanistan series, but may also miss the IPL 2023 season.
“There is no update on Hardik’s fitness status as of now and one can say there remains a big question mark of him being available before the end of IPL,” a BCCI source told PTI on condition of anonymity.