India all-rounder Hardik Pandya is set to join team India in New York directly by late night on Sunday (May 26) according to Indian standard time. He was under extreme scrutiny during the Indian Premier League (IPL) with even the crowd booing him right through for taking over Mumbai Indians' captaincy from Rohit Sharma. To make things worse, Pandya didn't have a great time on the field with both bat and ball as well.
Soon after MI's IPL campaign ended, Pandya has been vacationing overseas and according to reports in Cricbuzz, he is already on his way to New York and will be joining the team in time for the first practice session. His performance during the IPL was in the spotlight especially in the lead up to the World Cup squad selection. But the selectors kept faith in him and not only selected the all-rounder but also named him the vice-captain of the team for the mega event that will run from June 1 to 29.
Meanwhile, team India members on Saturday (May 25) night, left for New York from Mumbai airport. Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and substitutes Shubman Gill and Khaleel Ahmed are the ones who have left along with the support staff.
However, the players involved in the Qualifier 2 and in the final of IPL 2024 have stayed back. For the unversed, Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Avesh Khan and Yuzvendra Chahal who played for Rajasthan Royals in the second qualifier have not travelled with the team while another reserve player Rinku Singh will be involved in the IPL final on Sunday (May 26). Among other players, Virat Kohli, for undisclosed reasons, hasn't travelled with the team but reportedly, he had informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) about joining the team late.
