India vs Australia: Hardik Pandya ruled out of the T20I and ODI series

India and Australia will be locking horns in the first of the two-match T20I series on Sunday in Visakhapatnam. After the tussle in the shortest format, they will lock horns in the five ODIs which will be India’s last assignment before the World Cup. Ahead of the all-important series, the star all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been ruled out of the entire tour which is a huge setback for India.

The BCCI released the statement on Hardik Pandya stating that he is struggling with lower-back stiffness, the same injury which sidelined him from the Asia Cup and the Australia tour. Ravindra Jadeja has been named his replacement for the ODI series while no one will replace Pandya in the T20Is.

An injury to Pandya presents an excellent chance for Vijay Shankar to seal his place in the side for World Cup now. His performances in New Zealand were decent which led to the selectors picking him for this series as well and he can press his case further with his all-round show now.

Meanwhile, Hardik will undergo strength and conditioning training at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru from next week.

Chance for Jadeja also

Ravindra Jadeja must’ve felt hard done after being left out of the side for the upcoming Australia series. He had done nothing wrong in the ODIs against the same team in their backyard and was benched the whole series in New Zealand. The all-rounder did exceptionally well since Asia Cup when he was brought back in the plans of the limited-overs side thanks to Hardik Pandya’s injury.

Once again, an injury to the same cricketer has opened up a possibility for Jaddu to make it to the final 15 for the World Cup in England. It will be interesting to see if he gets the opportunity as the likes of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav walk into the playing XI on any day.

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