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Vice-captain Hardik Pandya will be absent from their World Cup match against England as he remains in the process of recovering from a left ankle injury.
Therefore, the hosts are likely to stick with Suryakumar Yadav, who has taken Pandya’s place, according to statements made by a batsman. KL Rahul on Saturday.All-rounder Pandya suffered an ankle injury while trying to stop a shot with his leg during India’s seven-wicket triumph over Bangladesh in Pune.
Later, he was absent during the win against New Zealand, during which Suryakumar was unfortunately run out after scoring just two runs.
“Hardik was a very important member of the team… so not having him is also a bit of a miss for the team,” Rahul told reporters ahead of Sunday’s game in Lucknow.
“Surya will probably get his chance and we know what he can do. So our faith is on Surya till Hardik comes back.”
Cricket World Cup crisis for Team India: Hardik Pandya’s injury casts doubt on his 2023 World Cup journey
India are looking to overtake South Africa and return to the top of the table with their sixth successive win and could not have asked to face England at a better time, with the holders all but eliminated after four losses in five games.
But Rahul said India will not take their opponents lightly and must focus on their own strengths.
“They are still a dangerous team,” he said. “We will not look at what happened with them in the last games. We will focus on tomorrow.”
All of India’s wins have come chasing and Rahul said it would be good to test himself batting first.
“It will be a great opportunity if we strike first before the next stage,” he said.
“In the next four games, if we can bat first, it’s going to be a good challenge for us just to see how we step up the innings and it’s been a while since we’ve batted first.”