In a big boost for Mumbai Indians, captain Hardik Pandya confirmed that he has recovered completely from his ankle injury and will be back to bowling in IPL 2024.
"Yes, I will be bowling," he said during Mumbai Indians' pre-season media interaction.
Pandya took over the Mumbai Indians captaincy from Rohit Sharma, who had led the franchise to five IPL titles. He was seen working on his bowling during Mumbai Indians' net session in Mumbai on Monday.
The all-rounder revealed that he regained his fitness in January itself but didn't get to chance to play in any white ball match. He made a return to competitive cricket during the DY Patil T20 tournament last month.
"When I got fit, the Afghanistan series (had) just started. I have been fit since then (but) there were no games to play," he said.
Giving details about his injury which he sustained during the World Cup, Pandya stated: "My injury was a freak one. It had nothing to do with my past injuries or my fitness. I tried to stop the ball and twisted my ankle. When I got injured, my injury from day one clearly showed that I would be out of the World Cup."
He further added that in his attempt to recover for the World Cup semi-finals he ended up aggravating his injury.
"We pushed but it would have been an uphill task that I would be fit for the World Cup semifinals or the final. When we pushed, it kind of triggered the injury and my recovery took longer (than expected)."
PIX: KKR unveil new match jersey for IPL 2024
Boucher mute on Rohit's captaincy axe, MI fans irked
What's brewing between Rohit Sharma and Ed Sheeran?
Hardik ready to take Rohit's MI legacy forward
Bid to hasten comeback, aggravated my injury: Hardik