Hardik Pandya to miss New Zealand game: How India will deal with his absence and predicted XI

India will be missing all-rounder Hardik Pandya for the New Zealand Cricket World Cup 2023 game on Sunday in Dharamshala. Pandya who twisted his left ankle in the match against Bangladesh has been advised to rest and will not be travelling with the team. As per BCCI, Pandya will join the team straight in Lucknow ahead of the England which is scheduled for 29 October. World Cup 2023: News | Schedule | Results | Points table Some of the media reports have stated that Pandya will now travel to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for his treatment, but BCCI has only said that the player will be under constant supervision of the medical team . Pandy’s ankle injury, which he suffered after slipping to the ground in his attempt to block a Litton Das drive with his right foot, has come as a major blow to Team India’s balance. The seam bowling all-rounder bowled three, seven, and six overs against Australia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan respectively, returning with match figures of 1/28, 2/43, and 2/34. This clearly exemplifies the crucial role he has played for India, completing the majority of the overs from the quota of the fifth bowler. Shardul Thakur on the other hand has only bowled eight overs in two games against Afghanistan and Pakistan and was not even picked against Australia. In the Bangladesh game, Sahrdul was asked to bowl nine overs after Pandya’s injury and the Mumbai all-rounder gave away 59 runs for one wicket. Now the crucial question for India is: Can India trust Shardul to be their fifth bowler? And who replaces Pandya in the playing XI? Thakur’s number doesn’t invoke the confidence that he would be asked to complete 10 overs against New Zealand. In such a scenario, India could look to bring in Mohammed Shami or Ravichandran Ashwin in place of Pandya. Ashwin and Shami are seasoned bowlers and are well capable of completing 10 overs of their own. However, such a decision will make India’s batting a bit weaker. Pandya has the skills to be picked in a team just based on his batting but Ashwin and Shami don’t provide that cushion. Shami is a pure bowler and while Ashwin is an all-rounder his batting skills don’t match that of Pandya. This means India probably won’t play Thakur and Ashwin or Shami together. What they can do is drop Thakur for the New Zealand game and replace him with Ashwin or Shami. This way the Men in Blue will at least have five expert bowlers. And in place of Pandya, they should bring in Ishan Kishan or Suryakumar Yadav. The inclusion of a pure batter in Kishan and SKY will help India retain most of their batting strength. There’s a strong chance of Kishan being picked over Suryakumar. Shadrul can hit big and at a quick rate from the lower order. Ashwin probably can’t do that and Shami certainly can’t but including Kishan/SKY and Ashwin or Shami, currenlty seems like the best option for India to adjust to the absence of Pandya and still have the desired balance in the side. India’s predicted XI for New Zealand match: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan/Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin/Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj