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'Swelling had resurfaced on Thursday...': BCCI official reveals inside details leading to Hardik's World Cup rule out
Hardik was left gutted after being ruled out of the tournament where he only played four matches before being injured.
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya's World Cup campaign ended on Saturday after he was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament for failing to recover from the ankle injury he incurred on October 19 in the match against Bangladesh. Fast bowler Prasidh Krishna, who has played 17 ODIs, was approved as his replacement by the ICC Technical Committee.
Hardik was left gutted after being ruled out of the tournament where he only played four matches before being injured. Taking to social-media platform X, he later wrote: “Tough to digest the fact that I will miss out on the remaining part of the World Cup. I'll be with the team, in spirit, cheering them on every ball of every game. Thanks for all the wishes, the love, and the support has been incredible. This team is special and I'm sure we'll make everyone proud.”
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The all-rounder was reportedly set to return for knockout matches with India being the only side in the tournament so far to qualify for the semis, and according to BCCI sources privy to developments at the NCA, Hardik had resumed his training in Bengaluru. However, the swelling on his left ankle had resurfaced again on Thursday which implied that wouldn't be fit to bowl anytime soon.
"As it has been said earlier, Pandya doesn't have any fracture and only had minor tear. He had resumed training but suddenly considerable amount of swelling developed in left ankle region and he wouldn't have been fit to bowl.
"This is not some injury which could be managed with injections. Considerable swelling resurfaced on Thursday and unless it subsides, he can't do skills training for some more time," the official told PTI on condition of anonymity.
The report further added that BCCI had three contenders to replace Hardik - left-handed batter Tilak Varma, wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson and pacer Prasidh. With Shardul Thakur and R Ashwin already in the Indian squad, the management wasn't interested in a like-for-like replacement. Meanwhile, with Ishan Kishan in the team as well, who was a left-handed batter and a wicketkeeper, Tilak and Samson fell behind in the race leaving Prasidh as the lone choice.
