Hardik Pandya has no regrets about making an early comeback from the injury suffered during the World Cup: India’s star all-rounder Hardik Pandya has revealed that the ankle injury he suffered during last year’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup got worse as he was attempting to make a comeback during the knockout stage of the competition.
Pandya suffered an ankle injury while bowling during India’s World Cup clash against Bangladesh in Pune and the problem had some serious consequences as he tried to make an unexpected comeback and play again in the semi-finals and final of the tournament. There were complications, which was ultimately won by Australia.
While Pandya admitted that he would normally have let the injury heal naturally, the 30-year-old said the effort to make a comeback for the closing stages of the tournament was worthwhile as the 50-over World Cup only comes every four years.
“My injury, from day one, showed that I’m going to be out of the World Cup, but playing for India has always been special, especially in a World Cup. (So) we pushed (for) 10 days – we knew that it’s an uphill task to be fit for the World Cup semi-finals or finals,” Pandya said.
“When we pushed, I kind of triggered my injury (further), and the injury became a little longer.”
Hardik Pandya is now fit again and is eyeing his return to play during the upcoming Indian Premier League before the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the USA and Caribbean in June.
The all-rounder played a key role in taking India to the semi-finals of the recent T20 World Cup in Australia and is likely to be a key part of the team’s plans for a second title this time.
Speaking to local media in Mumbai on Monday, Pandya shrugged off any fitness-related concerns and said that his body was feeling good.
He plans to play both as a batsman and bowler while captaining Mumbai Indians in the IPL tournament starting later this month.
Hardik said: “Yes, I will be bowling,”.
“My injury at (the) World Cup was a freak injury. It had nothing to do with my past injuries, it had nothing to do with my fitness. When I got fit, the Afghanistan (T20I) series had just started (in January). I’ve been fit since then, but there were no games to play.”
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