World Cup 2023: KL Rahul confirms Hardik Pandya will miss India-England clash, hopes for happy return to Lucknow

India aren’t expected to make too many changes to their lineup for their ICC World Cup match against England in Lucknow with injured all-rounder Hardik Pandya set to miss a second match in a row. World Cup 2023: News | Schedule | Results | Points table The news of Pandya missing the England game was confirmed by India wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul on the eve of the Men in Blue’s sixth outing of the ongoing World Cup. Rahul added that Suryakumar Yadav will continue batting in the middle order in his place. " “Hardik has also been a very important member of the team and he has been there and he does a very important role for the team,” Rahul said in the pre-match press conference on Saturday.

“So not having him is also a bit of a miss for the team. But it’s unfortunate what happened. And yeah, we also at some point have to look at that and the present is that he is not available for this game. “Surya will probably get his chance and we know what Surya can do. So, our confidence is in Surya till Hardik comes back,” added Rahul. Rahul also hoped for a happy return to the Ekana Stadium, home of the Lucknow Super Giants franchise that he captains in the Indian Premier League. Rahul had suffered a thigh injury during their match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on 1 May, and ended up missing out on four months’ worth of cricketing action. “Yes, I am a little sad about that. Whoever has an injury, if you ask anyone - they undergo surgery and to come back, it takes a lot of hard work, a lot of patience and you have to go through that which is not very easy. “I can’t say that (injury) it is not in my mind. Yesterday when I came to the ground, last memory of this ground is that - falling down and injuring myself. Hopefully I can put that aside and I can make some better and happier memories to forget all of that,” added Rahul.

KL Rahul is back to a ground that has given him life lessons & bittersweet memories 🏟️

On Sunday, he wants to make memories that he'll remember only for the good 👌👌

Muskuraiye, KL Rahul Lucknow mein hai 🤗

WATCH 🎥🔽 - By @28anand #TeamIndia | #CWC23 | #INDvENG

— BCCI (@BCCI) October 28, 2023

After undergoing rehabilitation alongside fellow middle-order bat Shreyas Iyer, Rahul made a triumphant comeback with a century against Pakistan in the Asia Cup, and has had a solid run both with bat in hand as well as behind the stumps since then, cementing himself as the first-choice wicketkeeper-batter in ODIs. During the pre-match presser, Rahul opened up on his rehab at Bengaluru’s National Cricket Academy and his journey to regaining match fitness. “During the process of getting fitter as well, I did focus a lot on wicket keeping along with my batting. The medical team at the NCA felt like — with the kind of injury I had, the difficult part would be wicket keeping more than the batting. “The things that I’ve worked much more harder on is my fitness and my wicket keeping. Then came batting so it was in that order. So, I did work a lot on my wicket-keeping there and yeah, even when I’ve come back here, I’ve spent a lot of time wicket-keeping. I feel like that requires a bit more time and effort from my side. “It’s as simple as any other skill. The more you do, the harder you work on it, you have the best chance to do well and I am taking wicket-keeping seriously because in India, in these conditions, it will be important to have your technique right, to have your glove-work right.” India will be aiming to becoming the first team to qualify for the semi-finals of the ongoing World Cup with a victory. England, on the other hand, are nearly out of the tournament and a defeat on Sunday will officially confirm the end of their title defence.