India's batting all-rounder Hardik Pandya is out for at least a week with an ankle injury. Pandya, who is the vice-captain, sustained an injury to his left ankle while trying to stop the ball on his own bowling in India’s match against Bangladesh at the MCA stadium in Pune.
"The all-rounder was taken for scans and is advised rest. He will not be taking the flight to Dharamshala with the team on October 20 and will join the team directly in Lucknow where India play England,” said a media release issued by BCCI secretary Jay Shah. India will take on England in Lucknow on October 29.
Meanwhile, New Zealand will miss their talismanic skipper Kane Williamson who is yet to recover from a fractured thumb. Tom Latham has ably filled in Williamson’s shoes -- the Kiwis' good run so far under his leadership in the tournament so far has shown.
Both New Zealand and India are undefeated after 4 matches each and are on top of the table with 8 points.
The immediate question before India is to find his replacement -- should it be a batter, a spinner or a medium pacer...
The Indian team management -- comprising of head coach Rahul Dravid, assistant coach Vikram Rathour, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey and skipper Rohit Sharma -- are mulling on whether to replace Pandya with seamer Mohammed Shami or not. The other option is to play an extra batter -- Ishan Kishan or Suryakumar Yadav.
Last edition's runners-up New Zealand have shown that the absence of Williamson has not affected their plans much. Under Tom Latham, the Kiwis are out to lift the World Cup this time after having missed it narrowly in 2019.
Their batters up the order have been in fine form. Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell have scored runs fluently. The bowling department led by Trent Boult, Matt Henry and Mitch Santner has been lethal as well with the latter having taken the most wickets - 11- thus far.
With both teams looking to enter the next stage of the tournament with blemish-free stats, it remains to be seen who will come out on top in the ground which is known traditionally to help seam more than spin.
