T20 World Cup 2024: Hardik Pandya vacationing outside India, to link up with the rest of the team in New York for World Cup

Hardik Pandya was nowhere to be seen among the Indian players who left for New York on Saturday (May 25) for the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024. 

All the players who were part of the teams that exited the IPL 2024 at the league stage were expected to be leaving together for New York. Hardik Pandya's Mumbai Indians teammates such as Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Jasprit Bumrah were in the departing group but he was nowhere to be seen.

According to a report in Cricbuzz, the India allrounder will be linking up with the team in New York on Sunday afternoon Eastern Time. The report stated that the player was vacationing outside the country after a forgettable campaign in IPL 2024 where he faced constant criticism for his underwhelming performance in the competition.

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The fans targeted him with boos and jeers throughout the competition for replacing Rohit Sharma as the captain of Mumbai Indians and his poor performance only made things worse. He scored a modest 216 runs in 14 games and picked up 11 wickets while having an economy rate of almost 11. Hardik Pandya's captaincy was not up to the mark either as Mumbai Indians finished at the bottom of the points table.

"A lot of the stuff that he's going through is, personally, maybe a little uncalled for. It'll certainly be a learning curve for Hardik as his growth in leadership. While times are tough now, a couple of things will pass and it'll make him a tougher leader and it'll certainly grow him in the role as well," Mumbai Indians head coach Mark Boucher had said after the end of the campaign.

Hardik Pandya to link up with team in New York:

Soon after Mumbai Indians' campaign ended earlier this month, Hardik Pandya left the country for vacation at an undisclosed location. He decided against returning to the country and leaving for New York with the rest of the team. The India allrounder will link up with the team directly in New York.

He will be hoping to bounce back by performing well in the T20 World Cup. Pandya has not played for India since October last year when he suffered an injury during the ODI World Cup clash against Bangladesh. Meanwhile, Team India will be opening their campaign in the T20 World Cup on June 5 against Ireland.