Hardik Pandya.
Credit: PTI Photo
Kolkata: India's campaign suffered a mighty blow with Hardik Pandya being ruled out of the remainder of the ICC World Cup after the all-rounder failed to recover from a left ankle injury he sustained during the game against Bangladesh in Pune on October 19. Karnataka pacer M Prasidh Krishna has been approved as Hardik's replacement by the Event Technical Committee of the World Cup.
Prasidh has featured in 17 ODIs, taking 27 wickets at an average of 25.6 and an economy rate of 5.60. Prasidh, who too had been sidelined following a surgery to his back, made his comeback during a white-ball series in Ireland against the hosts.
Hardik, who crashed to the ground after twisting his ankle while attempting to stop the ball off his own bowling, hobbled off the ground immediately and joined the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for treatment. Though the team management remained optimistic about Hardik's return, painting a positive picture of his improvement, their worst fears came true.
Head Coach Rahul Dravid explained the rationale behind going for a pacer and like-for-like replacement for example Tilak Varma, who can turn his arm around.
"I think it's a pretty obvious thought process," noted Dravid. "After Hardik has been injured, which he has been for the last two or three games, and then obviously didn't play a couple of the games in the Australia series as well. We have played with a combination which has been three fast bowlers and two spinners.
"And yeah, in our reserves, in the guys sitting outside in the 15, we had a backup for the spin, we had a backup for the batting, and we had a backup in the bowling all-around category. So, we did recognise that if this is a combination we're going to take, and if there is an issue of an illness, or a small niggle, or an injury, then we need to have a backup for that. It also allows us to play other combinations. It doesn't mean that we can't play other combinations."
While India haven't missed the services of the Baroda player with Mohammed Shami more than compensating for his absence, India would have loved to have him at least for the knockouts for the balance he provides to the team. Hardik batted only once in the four matches he played in this World Cup, scoring an unbeaten 11 against Australia. He made crucial contributions with the ball, claiming five wickets.
Dravid also felt that India weren't going to miss Hardik much.
"I think we got to have confidence in our 8, 9, 10, 11. The ones that we have now, I think they are working very hard and they are doing the best that they can. And I don't think the batsmen really, to be honest, need to think about it or worry about it. I think if you play good cricket through the 50 overs and play according to the situation and what the demands of the game are, I think there's enough quality in that top seven to look after itself. And to look after itself," he said.