Hardik Pandya has joined the members of India's T20 World Cup squad in the USA ahead of the warm-up game against Bangladesh. Pandya, vice-captain, of the side, took to his Instagram account to inform his fans about the development. "On national duty," Hardik captioned the post.
Notably, Hardik was not a part of the first batch of players who left for the USA on May 25. He was believed to be on a short break after Mumbai Indians' campaign in the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) came to a screeching halt.
Hardik had a tournament to forget as captain after he failed to get Mumbai Indians into the playoffs. The five-time IPL champions finished their campaign tottering at the bottom of the points table. They managed to win just four out of their 14 league games and secured eight points.
Hardik scored 216 runs in 14 games at an average of 18 and a strike rate of 143.04. He snared 11 scalps during the course of the season but leaked runs at an economy rate of 10.75. His individual performance was under scrutiny and many former cricketers constantly questioned his moves as captain.
India's squad for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024
Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj
Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan
India's ICC Men's T20 World Cup group-stage schedule
- June 5: vs Ireland, Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York
- June 9: vs Pakistan, Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York
- June 12: vs USA, Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York
- June 15: vs Canada, Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Florida
