Hardik Pandya returned to competitive cricket in the DY Patil T20 Cup which got underway on February 26, 2024. He is playing for the Reliance team, which opened its tournament against Bharat Petroleum.
This is the first time Hardik Pandya is playing any competitive cricket since injuring his ankle during the ICC World Cup 2023. He twisted his left ankle in the Bangladesh match in Pune and has been out of action since then.
Hardik was put on a high-performance program by the National Cricket Academy (NCA) keeping the long-term goal and important white-ball assignments in mind. The 30-year-old has been working hard on his fitness since then and will take the field for the first time after over four months.
He is captaining the Reliance team which also features the likes of Tilak Verma, Nehal Wadhera, and Piyush Chawla. The skipper excelled with the ball for his team, taking 2/22 in 3 overs, with wickets of ONGC opener Eknath Kerkar (9, caught and bowled) and Rahul Tripathi (0, caught by Dev Lakra).
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On the other hand, Ishan Kishan was missing from the Reliance playing XI and it has been reported that the keeper-batter will turn out for Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the tournament, on Tuesday.
Most IPL players use this tournament as an opportunity to get their Indian Premier League preparations underway and with the Ranji Trophy group stage already over, top players from the country will participate in the tournament which culminates on March 9.
Meanwhile, veteran India keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik, who is on commentary duties in the ongoing India v England Test series, will also feature in the DY Patil T20 tournament. He will take a break from the commentary box and play for the DY Patil B in the T20 tournament.
Karthik had played in the tournament last year as well, scoring 138 runs in 4 innings at a very impressive strike rate of 168.29.
All matches will be played at DY Patil Stadium and DY Patil University Ground and will see 16 teams, divided into four groups of four, featuring top players in action.
(CricketNext inputs)
