Rohit Sharma strongly responds when questioned about alternative for Hardik Pandya in case of injury, says 'In the minds of selectors, there are...'

Hardik Pandya is currently free from any injury and is on a roll nowadays following his brilliant performances which was witnessed in the recently-concluded T20I series against England. But the world knows, how prone Hardik Pandya is to injury. He had to stay out of action for quite a long time after picking up an injury in the ODI World Cup 2023. With Hardik's track record of injury in mind, Rohit Sharma was asked about alternative plans for the star all-rounder for the upcoming ODI series against England and all-important Champions Trophy 2025.

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Rohit Sharma on Hardik Pandya's alternative in case of injury

During the pre-match press conference for the first ODI against England, India captain Rohit Sharma addressed a question about contingency plans should all-rounder Hardik suffer an injury similar to the one he sustained during the 2023 World Cup. Rohit urged the reporters present to focus on the positive aspects of the team and not think about the negative scenarios.

“Why are we thinking about the negatives? That he will get injured, this will happen, that will happen. In the minds of the selectors, there are things in our minds. I can’t say that here. But there are things. We played the World Cup when he got injured,” Rohit said during the pre-match press conference on February 6.

“He got injured in the 3rd or 4th match. After that, we played the whole tournament. Although we lost the final, but we played good cricket till the final. So now, I won’t think about what will happen if he gets injured. What will happen if this happens, what will happen if that happens. I think, you are playing good cricket now. So we will hope that you keep playing good cricket and nothing happens,” Rohit added.

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During the 2023 World Cup, Hardik suffered an ankle injury while attempting to field a ball off his own bowling in the league match against Bangladesh. This injury sidelined him for the subsequent T20I series against Australia at home, as well as the three T20Is and three ODIs in South Africa later that year.

Hardik eventually returned to competitive cricket in the Indian Premier League the following year, before playing a key role in India's T20 World Cup victory. However, the all-rounder has yet to play an ODI since the 2023 World Cup game against Bangladesh, where he sustained the initial injury.

Hardik had a decent outing in the recently-concluded T20 series against England. He amassed 112 runs across five innings riding on a blistering fifty in fourth clash and also took five wickets. Hardik will look to continue his impressive show in the three-match ODI series against England which is set to start from February 6.