Hardik Pandya Set To Return From Ankle Injury For T20I Series Against Afghanistan And IPL 2024

India’s premier All-Rounder Hardik Pandya after spending considerable time off the field due to an Ankle Injury he sustained during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, is all set for a return in India colors when the Men in Blue welcomes Afghanistan for a 3-match T20I series in January next year at home. Moreover, he is also very likely to feature in the upcoming edition of IPL from March onwards.

Pandya fractured his ankle during India’s CWC league stage match against Bangladesh where he accidentally dragged his right ankle while attempting to stop a straight drive hit by Litton Das on the 19th of October. The Baroda-born All-Rounder looked in utter pain and discomfort as soon as he stood up before being taken out of action.

Hardik was then rushed to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for further check-ups and after the results of the scans came out, Hardik Pandya was ruled out of the remaining tournament altogether. The 30-year-old underwent rehabilitation during the World Cup itself and 2 weeks after that incident at Pune, Pandya had even hit the nets for bowling.

He was under the supervision of NCA’s strength and conditioning coaches who had asked him to increase his pace slowly. It was confirmed that Pandya did not feel any pain while bowling the first deliveries, however, he informed the NCA officials about the slight discomfort he felt on his right ankle after bowling the 4th delivery.

As a result, Hardik Pandya was forced to pull out from the World Cup which he confirmed with a post that read, “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.” – Pandya wrote on X.

While recovering from the Ankle injury, Pandya had to miss the home T20I series against Australia and the tour to South Africa as well where he was supposed to lead the team.

Sources Confirm That Hardik Pandya Will Return In Time For IPL 2024

According to our internal sources, all the rumors that were circulating about Hardik Pandya getting ruled out of IPL 2024 are just mere rumors. He has recovered from the Ankle injury and is working out every day. The new Mumbai Indians captain is likely to make his return through the upcoming 3-match T20I series against Afghanistan at home with the 1st T20 taking place on January 11 at Mohali.

In his absence, Surya Kumar Yadav and KL Rahul served as captains of India during the white-ball series (ODIs and T20Is) against South Africa. “Hardik is fit and fine. In fact, he has been working out daily. All the talk about him going on to miss the IPL is just a rumor. There are still almost four months left for IPL-2024, so anything, at this moment, is just speculation.”

BCCI secretary Jay Shah had also commented on his fitness during the WPL auction on December 9. Shah confirmed that Hardik Pandya was working very hard at the NCA and also gave confirmation on his return for the Afghanistan series.

“We are monitoring it (Pandya’s fitness) on a day-to-day basis. He is at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) only. He is working very hard and we will let you know in due course the moment he is fit. He could be fit before the Afghanistan series also.” – Jay Shah said.