Hardik Pandya, India’s injured Twenty20 International (T20I) captain, is unlikely to be fit for India’s forthcoming five-match series against Australia, which begins on November 23, as the star all-rounder would need additional time to recuperate from a left-ankle ligament tear.
The selection for the home T20I series against Australia is expected to be announced only after India’s World Cup quarterfinal, which is expected to be played in Mumbai on November 15.
According to BCCI sources, a more realistic scenario for Pandya would be to be fit by the start of the South Africa T20 series on December 10 in Durban.
“It will take some time before Hardik is declared fit and available for selection.” It would be more sensible for him to try to finish his recovery with a potential ‘RTP’ (Return To Play) during the SA series. It will undoubtedly be the NCA Sports science team’s decision,” a top BCCI source familiar with the situation told PTI on condition of anonymity.
Suryakumar Yadav, the designated vice-captain of the T20I squad, or Asian Games gold medalist Ruturaj Gaikwad are expected to head the side.
In contrast to veterans like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, K L Rahul, and the pace unit, who must be fresh for the Test series, Mumbai Indians star Surya is now regarded as a two-format white-ball specialist.
Apart from the IPL, it is considered that white-ball Indian specialists (particularly hitters) can play 25-30 games per year across two white-ball formats. As a result, if Surya does not request rest, he is the favourite to captain the team. If not, Ruturaj is the second best option.
The T20 World Cup will be place in the Americas (the United States and the West Indies) in June and July of next year, following the IPL, and the core team for the Australia series will include all players who competed in Ireland and the Asian Games.
“Obviously, during any big event, someone like Jasprit Bumrah will be pressed into action because he would have been nicely warmed up with enough game time following the Indian Premier League.” “The same goes for Mohammed Siraj,” the official stated.
Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, and Mukesh Kumar are all possible candidates for the series.
Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, and Yuzvendra Chahal are expected to be selected from those who performed in the Asian Games for the upcoming Australia series. If Axar Patel recovers from his hamstring issue, he will be selected because Ravindra Jadeja would most likely be rested before the South Africa tour.
