Hardik Pandya twists ankle, leaves India worried ahead of NZ match

PUNE: In a major injury scare for India, star all-rounder Hardik Pandya hobbled off the field after twisting his ankle while bowling his first over in a World Cup match against Bangladesh, here on Thursday.

Pandya suffered the injury during the third delivery of the ninth over when he attempted to stop a straight drive from Bangladesh opener Litton Das with his right foot in his follow-through.

He twisted his left ankle as the ball passed under his leg and he stumbled to the ground.

Pandya felt discomfort from the moment he stood up before getting his right ankle strapped, resulting in a long delay. He hobbled towards his bowling mark before realising that he could not carry on and walked off the field.

Suryakumar Yadav came in as the substitute fielder. Pandya did not take part in the remainder of the match and later went for scans.

India skipper Rohit Sharma said the all-rounder has not suffered any major injury but was non-committal on his participation in the next game on Sunday against New Zealand in Dharamsala. “There is no major damage, that is good for us. But honestly with an injury like that, we have to assess every day and we hope that he pulls up well tomorrow morning (Friday) and then we will do whatever is required,” Rohit said after the match.

India and New Zealand are the two unbeaten teams in the World Cup with four wins each.

Pandya has been used as the first change option ahead of Shardul Thakur. With India’s top order firing, Pandya has not had much to do at number six but his batting skills are as important as his seam bowling.