Mumbai, Oct 27: The Indian team management has got down to reworking its plan for the rest of the World Cup campaign after it has emerged that Hardik Pandya’s participation in all the remaining matches has come under jeopardy. TOI has learnt that Hardik is suspected to have a Grade 1 ligament tear in his ankle which he suffered while trying to field off his own bowling during the match against Bangladesh in Pune on October 19.After the Bangladesh match, India’s captain Rohit Sharma had said there was “no major damage” to Hardik, and the allrounder was referred to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for treatment.
To make up for Hardik’s all-round skills, India played Suryakumar Yadav and replaced Shardul Thakur with Mohammed Shami against New Zealand. Suryakumar was run out for 2 but Shami, playing his first match of this World Cup, picked up a five-for to help India restrict New Zealand to under 300.
However, with the Lucknow pitch expected to help spinners, India could consider bringing in R Ashwin for Shami. The move will also provide the batting cushion down the order.