Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya started practicing after suffering an injury during the ODI World Cup 2023. While playing against Bangladesh, Pandya injured his ankle while trying to stop the ball.
He was ruled out of the entire tournament and also missed the series against Australia, South Africa and Afghanistan. Pandya will now be seen in action in the Indian Premier League and will lead the Mumbai Indians.
Hardik Pandya uploaded a video under his official name ‘X’, in which he can be seen returning to practice after recovering from an injury. However, Pandya was not seen bowling during his practice session and gave his full attention to batting.
Watch – Hardik Pandya returns to the field after injury
Back to that 🤙 pic.twitter.com/5qC3l3iX8c
– Hardik Pandya (@hardikpandya7) February 15, 2024
However, ahead of his return to the cricket field during the Indian Premier League, Hardik Pandya has hit the headlines due to his rumored breakup with the Indian captain. Rohit Sharma. MI replaced Rohit as franchise captain with Hardik, soon after the IPL 2024 auction.
Mumbai Indians got their all-rounder back Hardik Pandya in a transfer deal with the Gujarat Titans for a whopping INR 15 crores. MI were forced to drop Australian all-rounder Cameron Green, who was later picked up by the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
While Mumbai Indians head coach Mark Boucher, while speaking on a podcast, stated that replacing Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya as the captain of the team was entirely a cricketing decision. However, Rohit’s wife Ritika Sajdeh also gave a cryptic response in an Instagram post to Boucher’s comments that once again ignited speculations about a rift between the Mumbai Indians management and Rohit Sharma.
Hardik Pandya is currently one of the best players in white-ball cricket. The Baroda cricketer has been able to contribute with both bat and ball whenever the Indian team has needed him. Furthermore, Pandya played brilliantly during the ODI World Cup 2023 before his unfortunate injury against Bangladesh.
Hardik Pandya has also done well as captain of India’s T20I team. There were speculations that Pandya could lead the team in the 2024 T20 World Cup, however, Rohit’s return to the format in January this year after 13 months put an end to all the rumours.
Mumbai Indians have been crucial in Hardik Pandya’s development as a player. In the IPL 2015 auction, MI selected Pandya for a base price of INR 10 lakh. Hardik contributed with bat and ball and turned out to be an invaluable acquisition for the team. He also got his first chance for the Indian cricket team in early 2016 as a result of his success in the IPL.
After being released by the five-time champions in 2021, he was picked up by the Gujarat Titans. He was given the responsibility of captaining the team and did not disappoint the management as he helped them win the IPL title in his first year of play. In 2023, the Titans managed to advance to the tournament championship game. Now that Hardik has returned to MI, the management has faith in him and believes that they can win the trophy once again.
