India's all-rounder Hardik Pandya is undergoing rigorous training in preparation for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season. Pandya had been sidelined since the middle of the ODI World Cup 2023 due to an ankle injury. The injury occurred when he slipped during India's match against Bangladesh, leading to his exclusion from the remainder of the tournament. He participated in only three complete matches for India in the World Cup.
Since then, Pandya has been out of action and was not included in the South Africa tour. He is also absent from the T20I series against Afghanistan, where Rohit Sharma will captain the Indian team. The series is scheduled to commence on January 11, and it will serve as India's final T20I series before the T20 World Cup 2024, set to take place in June in the USA and West Indies.
However, it is expected that Pandya will make his comeback during the IPL 2024.
The 30-year-old all-rounder shared a high-intensity workout video on social media showcasing his exercises. He captioned the training video with, "Only one direction to go, forward ✌️🦾."
Pandya played a crucial role in four of Mumbai's five IPL titles in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020. He then captained Gujarat Titans (GT) to the title in their inaugural IPL appearance in 2022 and came close to securing consecutive triumphs, falling to a last-ball defeat against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the final.
Meanwhile, Rohit concluded his tenure as MI captain after leading the franchise to all five titles from 2013 to 2020.
However, an injury suffered during the 2023 World Cup appears to have impacted Hardik's leadership opportunities. Consequently, the star all-rounder missed the chance to lead the team in the home series against Australia and the tour of South Africa.
(Powered by AI, Inputs by India Today)
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