Team India is performing extremely well in the ongoing World Cup. They have so far beaten Australia, Afghnistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh rather comfortably and are sitting at the second position in the points table with the net run-rate of 1.659. They are set to face New Zealand on Sunday (October 22) but will be without their ace all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
He twisted his ankle while fielding of his own bowling against Bangladesh in the 9th over and walked off the field in pain. He didn't come back to bowl and wasn't required to bat either in the match. The all-rounder was also taken for scans and later BCCI confirmed that he has been ruled out of the New Zealand clash.
Hardik has also not travelled with the team to Dharamsala and will be joining the team directly in Lucknow where they will play England on October 29. Meanwhile, Hardik's absence will certainly affect the team's balance. Moreover, to replace him, India might make a couple of changes to their playing XI as well. They are likely to include Suryakumar Yadav and Mohammed Shami in the XI with Shardul Thakur going out to compensate Hardik's absence in the bowling attack.
This proves Hardik Pandya's importance in the line-up as India will have to risk playing with exact five bowlers in this fixture. For the same reason, we asked our readers' opinion on if Hardik's absence will affect the performance of the men in blue. Around 7500 people voted for this poll and the fans came up with mixed views.
Around 51% percent fans reckon that India are looking confident and despite Hardik not playing, their performance won't be affected. However, 44% of the voters felt that the Baroda all-rounder not featuring in the clash against the Kiwis will affect team India a lot.
