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Team India vice-captain Hardik Pandya has been ruled out of the 2023 World Cup match against England at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow today (October 29). He is unavailable for selection for the second straight match as he also missed the games against New Zealand last Sunday in Dharamshala.
Hardik is one of the most important players for Team India due to the balance he provides with his all-round ability. His presence gives the team a quality sixth bowling option and a dashing finisher in the middle-order. However, India have to manage without Hardik Pandya in the match against England today as he is yet to recover from the ankle injury.
The 30-year-old suffered the injury during the 2023 World Cup clash against Bangladesh last week while fielding off his own bowling during followthrough. He only bowled three balls in that game at that juncture. Pandya walked off the field after the incident and did not return.
The team management made two changes to their playing XI in the previous match against New Zealand due to Pandya's absence. They brought in a specialist batter in Suryakumar Yadav and a frontline bowler in Mohammed Shami. Bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur was relegated to the bench for the contest.
English captain Jos Buttler won the toss and opted to bowl first in today's contest. India stuck with the same combination from the previous game for this match, as Hardik is still unavailable.
Speaking after losing the toss, Indian captain Rohit Sharma said:
"We wanted to bat first. We had good time batting second. Looks like a good pitch, it's a new surface which has been relayed here. It has played well for all 100 overs. I mean it's quite important to think like that but it's important to get the two points.
"We will be hoping to get going today. Nice to get a break after a hectic schedule. It's always nice to have that break and reassess. It's nice to come out here and get back to business. We are playing the same team that played the last game."
India's playing XI for today's World Cup match:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
England's playing XI for today's World Cup match:
Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (c/wk), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
