India beat Bangladesh with 10 men

How crucial is Hardik Pandya to the Indian team? Mahmudullah scores runs in another World Cup game

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India won this easily, with ten players. But I suppose it is the fitness of the current eleventh player that matters the most. Bangladesh finally got a great start but never made the most of it and got beat big. 

Can Shardul be Hardik?

In the excitement of Virat Kohli bowling again with his Chris Harris impersonation, we were momentarily distracted from the fact that Hardik Pandya almost snapped his knee and ankle in one ball. 

The way his leg snaps under him gave me a knee and ankle injury just watching it. 

Though most of us are not pro athletes who practise yoga, remember he did try and bowl on. Try being the operative word there. But he will probably not play against New Zealand at the least, and that is if it’s not that big a deal. 

It could be massive though if he can’t play again for a while. 

And India saw the reality very plain in front of them. The over after Shardul bowled in the powerplay and was tonked. Two sixes and it looked easy to take him down there. 

There is a reason he looked bad in the powerplay, he is. He is ODI’s most expensive in the powerplay since the last World Cup. And it isn’t close. He has also managed to average heaps while doing it. 

There will be people talking about how his batting doesn’t replicate Hardik’s but neither does his bowling. They have to change their plans entirely if this is a real injury. At the moment it looks more like a rolled ankle, which should mean any injury is only a short-term thing.