Hardik Pandya Ruled Out Of T20I Series Against Afghanistan, Will Be Fit Before IPL 2024: Report. Hardik Pandya is expected to sit out the T20I series against Afghanistan as he continues recovering from his ankle injury. However, the Indian all-rounder (Hardik Pandya) is expected to be prepared for the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2024. The T20I series against Afghanistan serves as India’s last international assignment before the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, scheduled for June in the West Indies/USA.
Hardik Pandya suffered his injury during the ICC World Cup 2023 match against Bangladesh in Pune and has remained sidelined since then. In the four matches he played, he secured five wickets with a best bowling performance of 2/34 and contributed an unbeaten 11 runs in his sole batting appearance against Australia.
His absence extended to the home T20I series against Australia and the white-ball segment of the South Africa tour. During this period, Suryakumar Yadav led the team in T20Is, while KL Rahul took charge in ODIs, filling in for both Pandya and the regular skipper, Rohit Sharma, who opted for a break from white-ball cricket after the World Cup final against Australia.
Also Read: Team India’s Test, ODI, And T20I Records And Stats Of 2023
Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav’s absence from the Afghanistan T20Is raises speculation about a potential new captain. Considering his vice-captaincy experience in the South Africa T20I series, names like Ravindra Jadeja are under consideration. However, workload management might be a factor, especially with Jadeja likely participating in the upcoming five-Test series against England at home.
Hardik Pandya, traded from the Gujarat Titans (GT) to the Mumbai Indians (MI) in November, took on the captaincy role for GT for two successful years. Now, with MI, he steps into the significant responsibility of leading the team, succeeding Rohit Sharma, who guided the side to five IPL titles.
