Hardik Pandya suffers ligament tear, could miss more matches in the 2023 ODI World Cup 

It has been reported that Hardik Pandya has suffered a grade 1 ligament tear on his ankle and could miss the group stage.

Hardik Pandya suffers ligament tear, could miss more matches in the 2023 ODI World Cup 

Hardik Pandya getting treatment from the team's physio (Image via ESPN)

On 19th October, Hardik Pandya injured his ankle in India’s ODI World Cup match with Bangladesh. Since the injury, he missed India’s match with New Zealand and will also miss the match against England. But Times of India has reported that Hardik may end up missing more games. 

As per the report by TOI, Hardik Pandya has suffered a grade 1 ligament tear in his ankle, which takes around 2 weeks to heal. This could see him miss India’s matches against England, Sri Lanka and South Africa. If the team decides he needs more time to recover, he could miss India’s final group stage match as well.

YouTube video

Pandya has been instrumental for India in the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup so far. Although he only batted one innings, scoring 11 runs, he has been operating as India’s 3rd pacer. He picked up 5 wickets in 3 matches. In the 4th match against Bangladesh, he injured himself in the 3rd ball he bowled. 

Related: Huge blow for India as Hardik Pandya INJURES right ankle in World Cup match against Bangladesh, leaves stadium for scans 

How did Team India replace Hardik Pandya in their match with New Zealand?

The Indian team has not called up any replacements for the injured Hardik Pandya yet. They are sticking with the same 15 player squad throughout the tournament and will utilize the squad depth available to replace Pandya. 

Surya Kumar Yadav and Mohammed Shami were bought into the team after Hardik Pandya’s injury (Images via ESPN)

In the match against New Zealand, India had replaced Pandya with Surya Kumar Yadav and dropped Shardul Thakur for Mohammed Shami. This move proved successful for the Indian team as Shami picked up a five wicket haul. Surya Kumar Yadav was run out after a mix up with Virat Kohli and he left the field with only 2 runs on the board.

As India now travels to Lucknow to play England, the team might bring in Ravichandran Ashwin as the pitch at Ekana Stadium is known to be spin friendly. This means one pacer could be dropped to make space for the veteran spinner. 

In case you missed: