‘Told Management I Would Return After 5 Days’: How Hardik Pandya Aggravated His World Cup Ankle Injury

Hardik Pandya revealed that he pushed for a quick recovery as did not want to miss the World Cup but ended up being out of action for three months.

Hardik Pandya of India reacts in their follow through after bowling during the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup India 2023 between India and Bangladesh at MCA International Stadium on October 19, 2023 in Pune, India.

Source : Getty

Hardik Pandya, the India all-rounder has revealed, that he had promised the team management that he would return in five days after sustaining an ankle injury during India's ODI World Cup round-robin stage fixture against Bangladesh in October last year. He spoke at length about how he pushed for a quick recovery but ended up aggravating his injury to be ruled out for close to three months.

While bowling what was his first over in the match in Pune, Hardik seemingly twisted his ankle. As the phyios walked in to attend to his injury, the Indian all-rounder could not even walk properly and eventually walked out of the field before it was conveyed that he would not take any further part in the match. Hardik was later ruled out of the entire showpiece event and even though India reached the final without losing a game including the one against Bangaldesh, in an ideal scenario he would have given a sixth bowling option while also adding depth in the batting.

"I had preparing for the World Cup for more than a year. It was a freak injury during the match. The injury was said to be for 25 days and that would mean I would miss the rest of the World Cup, but I pushed," Hardik told Star Sports while speaking about the incident.

"I told the management that I would return after five days. I got injections done on my ankle in three places. I had to remove blood from my ankle because of the swelling. I wanted to give everything," he added.

"At one point I did know that if I keep pushing, I might be injured for a long time but for me it was never the answer. Even if there was a one percent chance, I could be with the team, I would do it. While I was pushing for that, I had a reoccurrence which eventually became a three-month injury. I was aiming to run when I could not walk after pushing for 10 days but I missed out," Hardik revealed.

Hardik Pandya To Lead Mumbai Indians In IPL 2024

Meanwhile, Hardik is all set to lead Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2024. He was roped in by his former franchise in an all-cash deal ahead of the auction but was named the captain later. He will replace Rohit Sharma, a five-time tournament-winning skipper at the the helm of affairs in MI. With no Hardik at their disposal, Gujarat Titans, with whom he was contracted until IPL 2023, will be led by Shubman Gill.