Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya has called in sick and won’t be leading the side against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday.
“He is just unwell. You never know... with the virus going around. We did not want to take any risks. Vijay Shankar is in for Hardik,” stand-in captain Rashid Khan told Sanjay Manjrekar when he walked out for the toss at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The flip of the coin favoured the host, and it decided to bat first for the first time in the ongoing iteration of IPL 2023.
Ravi Shastri, part of the television expert panel, also happened to speak to Hardik, who did attend the pre-game training sessions, ahead of the fixture. “He (Hardik) said he is not well... It is a long tournament,” Shastri said.
Hardik, a vital cog in the Titans’ wheel, has failed to get going with the bat thus far, scoring only 13 runs in his first two games this season. With the ball in hand, he has been economical (7.67), but he is yet to pick up a wicket. Gujarat has won both the matches it has played.
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