Injury leave Hardik Pandya participation for Mumbai Indians in doubt

The Indian Premier League started off in great fashion as fans witnessed a thrilling encounter between the two heavyweight teams in the form of Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings. However, the list of injuries seems to be mounting day by day and several players have already been ruled out of the tournament before the start of the second round of matches.

Steve Smith and David Warner were not allowed to play due to the ball-tampering sage while the likes of Pat Cummins, Kedar Jadhav, Mitchell Santner and Mitchell Starc are facing injury problems.

Pandya twists ankle; outlays problems for Mumbai Indians

The game of cricket is not over until the last bowl is bowled and it was evident in the opening fixture. Mumbai Indians were cruising towards victory for the major part of the game but a blinder from Bravo helped CSK snatch an unlikely victory. Hardik Pandya played a crucial role with the ball as he took three wickets and didn’t leak too many runs. The all-rounder had twisted his ankle while batting and seemed to be in discomfort as he did not field after completing his bowling.

Rohit Sharma had stated that Pandya will be fit for Mumbai’s game against the SunRisers Hyderabad but the ace all-rounder missed the practice session on the eve of the game that has raised doubts over his participation. This can also be a precautionary measure by Pandya before the contest against heavyweight Sunrisers Hyderabad. Hardik is seen as a major link in the MI side and his loss can be a major blow for the team who have already seen Pat Cummins being ruled out for the whole season.

Pradeep Sangwan, the Delhi allrounder is the frontrunner to make it to the playing XI if Hardik Pandya misses the game. Delhi went onto clinch Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title under Sangwan and he can strike some useful blows with the bat while bowling a few economical spells.

Squad: Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Evin Lewis, Suryakumar Yadav, Ben Cutting, Mustafizur Rahman, Rahul Chahar, Pradeep Sangwan, Jean-Paul Duminy, Saurabh Tiwary, Tajinder Dhillon, Akila Dhananjaya, Nidheesh M D Dinesan, Aditya Tare, Siddhesh Dinesh Lad, Mayank Markande, Sharad Lumba, Anukul Roy, Mohsin Khan, Mitchell McCleneghan.

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