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Hardik Pandya suffered an injury during India's 2023 World Cup match against Bangladesh. He hurt himself while trying to stop a shot off his own bowling at the MCA Stadium in Pune. According to a report by TOI, Pandya has a Grade 1 ligament tear.
It is unclear whether Hardik Pandya has been ruled out of the 2023 World Cup, but he missed the match against New Zealand in Dharamsala and is expected to be out of the playing XI for the upcoming games against England and Sri Lanka as well.
Hardik Pandya's absence will hurt India's balance a lot, but in case he is ruled out of the tournament, here are three players who can take his place in the Indian squad.
#1 Axar Patel
Axar Patel was present in India's original squad for the 2023 World Cup. However, the all-rounder suffered a last-minute injury at the Asia Cup 2023, which ruled him out of the first few matches of the World Cup. The selectors decided to take him out of the squad and named Ravichandran Ashwin as his replacement.
Patel was one of India's main all-rounders in ODIs before the 2023 World Cup. While he does not bowl pace like Hardik Pandya, Patel is a reliable left-arm spinner and a game-changer with the bat. He can take Pandya's place in the squad.
However, Patel's inclusion will force the team management to field three left-arm spin options in the playing XI. Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja are regular members of the team. If Patel comes in for Pandya, he will be the third left-arm spin option.
#2 Washington Sundar
Washington Sundar joined the Indian squad as a last-minute replacement in Asia Cup 2023. The off-spin bowling all-rounder has played 17 ODIs for the country in the last two years, where he has scored 251 runs and picked up 15 wickets.
Sundar's all-round talent can provide a lot of balance to the Indian team's playing XI. He is coming off a successful Asian Games campaign in China with the Indian T20I team. It will be interesting to see if the selectors give him a chance to play at the grand stage of the 2023 World Cup.
#3 Vijay Shankar
A wildcard choice for this position will be Hardik Pandya's Gujarat Titans teammate Vijay Shankar, who was in the form of his life during IPL 2023. Shankar middled the ball well in the IPL and played some incredible knocks for GT.
The all-rounder has represented India in World Cups before. Although Shankar has not played ODI cricket for India since the 2019 World Cup, he can return to the squad as a replacement for Hardik and play the pace-bowling all-rounder's role for the team.
Shankar's pace is not on the same level as Pandya, but he knows how to take wickets. He has an economy rate of 5.40 and a bowling strike rate of 58.2 in ODI cricket.
