There is no major damage, his fitness will be assessed on day-to-day basis: Rohit
PUNE: The Indian team was left worried when Hardik Pandya limped off the field after bowling just three balls during the Bangladesh innings in the World Cup here on Thursday.
Coming on as first change in place of Jasprit Bumrah, Pandya saw Litton Das step out and smash him to the cover boundary off his second ball. The right-hand batsman then drove him Pandya straight down the ground for another four off the next delivery.
Adding injury to insult, Pandya tried to stop the ball with his right foot in his follow through and in the process fell on his left ankle. The bowler was soon grimacing in pain, prompting the team physio to rush on to the field.
The next few minutes were as anxious as it could get for captain Rohit Sharma as Pandya lay on his back while the physio taped his ankle. Play was stopped for nearly ten minutes and Pandya just managed to get up when umpire Richard Kettleborough moved closer to check on him. Unfortunately for the Indian team, the treatment did not yield the desired result and the 30-year-old from Gujarat limped off the field.
Pandya was taken for a scan but an official update from the team was still awaited. His unavailability for the next match, against New Zealand in Dharamsala on Sunday, is the last thing the Indian team would want at this stage of their campaign.
Skipper Rohit Sharma, however, said the allrounder had not suffered any major injury but was non-committal on his participation in the next game on Sunday against New Zealand in Dharamsala. "There is no major damage, that is good for us. But honestly with an injury like that, we have to assess it every day and we hope that he pulls up well tomorrow morning and then we will do whatever is required," Rohit said after the match.
The allrounder has given the team the balance they had sought. With Pandya at No. 6, India have been able to play two specialist spinners without compromising their batting depth, thereby stifling the opposition and chasing down targets with efficiency.
Playing the in-form New Zealand in the bowler-friendly conditions of Dharamsala is bound to test the mettle of the Indian top order while also leaving the team one bowler short against a fiery batting line-up.
