Team India’s all-rounder, Hardik Pandya, will not participate further in the ongoing 2023 ODI World Cup. He suffered an ankle injury during a match against Bangladesh in Pune on October 19.
Hardik underwent scans and was sent to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for specialized treatment with an expert from England. Initially, there was hope that he would return for the later part of the tournament, which includes league-stage games against South Africa and the Netherlands, as well as the knockout rounds.
Since Hardik couldn’t recover in time, the team management has chosen to select fast bowler Prasidh Krishna as his replacement. The tournament’s Event Technical Committee officially authorized this squad change on Saturday. Consequently, Prasidh Krishna can be considered to be in the starting lineup for the upcoming match against South Africa if the team chooses to include him.
In the absence of Hardik Pandya, Team India has also sidelined another all-rounder, Shardul Thakur. They’ve opted to prioritize specialist players, compromising their batting depth, with Suryakumar Yadav and Mohammed Shami in the lineup. The changes have turned out to be very successful for the team. Suryakumar is scoring runs while batting lower in the order after the top-order batsmen have played well.
Additionally, Shami has been outstanding, taking 14 wickets in three matches, and forming a strong trio with fast bowlers Bumrah and Siraj.
Prasidh Krishna all set to join the team
Like Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna also had a long recovery from an injury. He returned to the team during the T20I series against Ireland and played in the 2023 Asia Cup and the bilateral ODI series against Australia before the World Cup.
Prasidh Krishna, the tall fast bowler, made his ODI debut in 2021 during the home series against England, where he performed well by taking four wickets. So far, he has played 17 ODIs, capturing 29 wickets at an average of 25.59 and an economy rate of 5.61.
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