Even though India began their campaign in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, in the West Indies and the United States of America (USA), with a dominating performance, there was concern about the fitness of captain Rohit Sharma, who left the field after celebrating his fifty against Ireland.
Going into the game against Pakistan on June 09, at the same ground, Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, in New York, the inaugural champions will fit Rohit Sharma, who could be a valuable member of the team in tackling the new ball bowling of the two left-arm pacers- Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Amir.
It’s yet to confirm whether he will lead the team against the arch-rival, after getting fully fit for the game.
Hardik Pandya to lead India if Rohit Sharma gets ruled out of the Pakistan clash
Rohit Sharma left the field during the game against Ireland, after remained unbeaten on 52-runs off 37 deliveries, shouldering on four boundaries and three sixes. Early during the knock, the India opener was hit by a short ball from Joshua Little, and that was expected to be the reason of his retired-hurt.
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Coming into the post-match presentation, he opened up a little bit on how serious the injury was. ‘It was a sore arm.’
After an off day on Thursday, India decided to prepare for the high-voltage game against Pakistan. Where the right-handed batter again suffered an injury as he was hit on the thumb, which was revealed by the Revsportz in a discussion on India’s training session.
The Mumbai-batter was up against the throwdown specialist from Sri Lanka, Nuwan in the nest when the ball bounced quite awkwardly from the surface and hit Rohit in his hand. The injury didn’t seem to be serious at the first look, as the India captain kept on batting from the other end of the practice net, but left the ground only after a few minutes.
The Board of Cricket Council in India (BCCI) are yet to make any official confirmation on the injury of Rohit Sharma. But if he ends up missing the encounter, the vice-captain of the team Hardik Pandya will be leading the Indian team against Pakistan, with young left-hand opener Yashasvi Jaiswal replacing him in the opening position.
The veteran however, has struggled against the ‘Men in Green’ in the shortest format of the game, having collected only 114 runs in 10 T20I innings, at an average of 16.3 and a strike rate of 118.8, with a best score of only 30-runs. He has nailed only nine boundaries and six over-boundaries against this neighboring team.
India are coming into the encounter after a dominating performance with both bat and ball against Ireland. The likes of Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah put so many questions against the Irish batters, who found it so tough to bat at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.
Hardik Pandya ended up with three wickets, while Bumrah returned with a magical bowling figure of 2/6 in his three overs. Along with Rohit’s half-century, it was so refreshing to see how the wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant remained unbeaten on 36-runs.
Pakistan, on the other hand, are coming into this encounter after a heart-breaking defeat against co-host United States of America, who looked charged up in their game, as they held their nerve to earn victory in the ‘Super Over’.
If the 2009-champions lose the game against India on June 09, it will be so difficult for them as Canada handed Ireland a defeat in their second group game on Friday.