Indian vice-captain Hardik Pandya had twisted his ankle during the 2023 World Cup league match against Bangladesh at Gahunje, and played no subsequent part in the match.

The medical team diagnosed ligament damage, and Pandya missed India’s matches against New Zealand, England, and Bangladesh, all of which India won to stretch their unbeaten run to seven matches and guarantee a berth in the semi-final.

With Pandya finally been ruled out of the World Cup, India did not opt for a like-for-like replacement. They drafted in not an all-rounder but Karnataka fast bowler Prasidh Krishna, who himself returned to international cricket in mid-August.

From 17 ODIs, Prasidh has 29 wickets at 25.58 – a product of his impressive strike rate (27.3). He returned to ODIs after a long injury layoff in mid-September 2023, and has since returned figures of 20-0-144-4 across three matches.

From four matches at this World Cup, Pandya claimed five wickets at 22.60, but his batting was restricted to an 11-ball unbeaten stay against Australia. Importantly, he added balance to the XI as the sixth bowler who could bat at six.

India’s last two league matches are against South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on November 5, and the Netherlands at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on November 12.

While they have already qualified for the semi-final, their opposition and venue will depend on how they as well as the other teams fare in the remaining league matches.

Indian squad for the 2023 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna.