Hardik Pandya likely to miss Afghanistan T20I series, will be fit before IPL

Famous Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya will probably miss the Twenty20 International series against Afghanistan, but an ankle injury will likely heal in time for the Indian Premier League (IPL), a source told ANI. Pandya was a member of India’s World Cup team for ICC Cricket. Prior to being ruled out of the tournament due to an ankle injury sustained during a league stage match against Bangladesh on October 19, he played four matches, taking five wickets with the best bowling figures of 2/34 and scoring 11* against Australia in his only innings.

Pandya has not played any international cricket since then, having missed the five-match T20I series against Australia and the three-match T20I and ODI series during the tour to South Africa as well. Suryakumar Yadav led India in all the T20I matches while KL Rahul led the team in ODIs in the absence of Pandya and regular skipper Rohit Sharma, who requested some time off from white-ball cricket after the World Cup final against Australia.
The three-match T20I series against Afghanistan will be India’s final international assignment, taking place from January 11-17, before the ICC T20 World Cup, which will take place in June at West Indies/USA.
In November this year, Pandya moved from Gujarat Titans (GT) to his former franchise Mumbai Indians (MI) after a trade between both franchises. The all-rounder spent two momentous years with GT, spearheading their campaign with aplomb. In GT’s debut season in 2022, Hardik ensured a fairytale start, with the team lifting the coveted trophy, while they finished runners-up in their second season after a last-ball defeat in a thrilling final earlier this year.