Ahead of the India-New Zealand Cricket World Cup 2023 match in Dharamsala on Sunday, the big question for the hosts is to find Hardik Pandya’s replacement. The star all-rounder was injured in India’s previous match against Bangladesh and will not play against New Zealand. Both teams are undefeated so far and the winner will consolidate their place at the top of the Cricket World Cup standings.
Hardik Pandya’s absence upsets the balance of India’s 11 players, but head coach Rahul Dravid dropped plenty of hints that Mohammed Shami and Suryakumar Yadav would be in contention without confirming the preferred combination for Sunday’s World Cup match against New Zealand . Pandya injured his left ankle while bowling in the previous match against Bangladesh in Pune and is currently under the supervision of BCCI’s medical team at the National Cricket Academy.
“…he (Hardik) is obviously an important player for us so we will have to work around that and see what is the best combination we can come up with. We will have to see what works best for these conditions and these wickets. But probably doesn’t have the kind of balance that we probably used in the first four games,” Dravid was very practical in his thought process.
Shami’s ability to come into the picture became clear when he named Shardul as the fourth seam in the lineup where Pandya was ahead in the pecking order. Dravid did not reveal the playing XI and Hardik’s possible replacement, but hinted that besides Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin is also an option.
“Obviously the three seams, having someone like Shami sitting there and bringing him into this game is a great option. In some cases there is Ashwin who has obviously sat out, who has great quality as well. So there are two or three combinations that we can use if we consider this until Hardik comes back,” he added.
Dravid is someone who is not even known to reveal the simplest open and closed team combinations even when he was captain. Typically, he said all options are explored, but you can read between the lines.
“We can obviously go for the three fast bowlers or the three spinners. With those kind of combinations we can still play Ash (Ashwin) and push Jadeja forward,” he said.
“Lots of different, different permutations and combinations. I wouldn’t want to give too much away. I mean, we’re pretty clear about what our game 11 is going to be tomorrow.
The coach also hinted that it is a battle between Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan in the batting department, but then one statement became a decisive reason why Suryakumar has a better chance as they are looking at a finisher.
“I mean, it’s nice to have Ishan. And as you rightly said, he’s playing well. He’s left-handed. If you’re looking for someone a little higher in the rankings, maybe we can go for him.” Ishan.”
With PTI inputs
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