The Indian wicket-keeper batter has amassed 177 runs in the five matches in the ODI World Cup 2023 tournament till now.
New Delhi: Wicket-keeper KL Rahul has confirmed that Indian cricket team vice-captain and all-rounder Hardik Pandya will not be playing in the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023 match against defending champions England in Lucknow on Sunday, October 29.
During the pre-match conference on Saturday, October 28, KL Rahul said that Pandya is a very important member of the side and he will be a huge miss in a high-voltage clash against the Jos Buttler-led side.
Rohit Sharma-led India will take on Jos Buttler-led England in their next match at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. While the Men in Blue is undefeated in the tournament with five wins in five matches, the defending champions have failed to make an impact, winning just one match in five.
In the pre-match conference, the right-handed batter Rahul admitted that Hardik is a very important member of the side and that not playing against England will be a miss. He also backed Suryakumar Yadav to deliver in ODIs till Hardik is back. The all-rounder will miss the match against England as well due to an ankle injury he got during the match against Bangladesh in Pune.
“Surya will probably get his chance and we know what Surya can do. So, our confidence is in Surya till Hardik comes back,” said KL.
The batter said that the Indian team has not spoken much about their opposition in the games they have played, rather it is team’s own strengths that are discussed.
“Yes, we do a little bit of homework about the opposition and like you said England is the defending champion. Yes, they may not have had a few results going their way but it does not change the fact that they are still a very dangerous team and we will not go by what has happened with them in the last few games. We will focus on tomorrow and try to compete and beat them again,” he concluded.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav.
England squad: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Brydon Carse, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes.