There's massive news coming from the Indian backroom as it has now been confirmed that influential all-rounder Hardik Pandya is set to miss out on the remainder of the World Cup for India.
Hardik Pandya, who has had a huge part to play in the squad as India continues to exert dominance on the rest of the teams in this year's International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup, remaining the only unbeaten team so far.
India on Thursday became the first team to qualify for the semi-final stages after handing Sri Lanka a defeat by a mammoth 302 runs. However, Hardik Pandya did not play a part in that match. In fact, Pandya has missed the last few matches India played after picking up an ankle injury against Bangladesh in Pune last month.
And now, it has been confirmed that he will not be able to recover in time to be a part of the Indian setup as the Men in Blue aim to reclaim the ultimate prize in international cricket by winning the World Cup on home soil.
Hardik Pandya's place in the Indian squad will now be taken up by Prasidh Krishna. The tournament's Event Technical Committee on Saturday gave its go ahead to the inclusion of the inexperienced pacer into the Indian setup.
Prasidh Krishna has featured in just 19 white ball matches for India and last played at the international level when he played against Australia before the start of the World Cup, where he picked the wicket of David Warner in his spell of nine overs with figures of one wicket for 45 runs.
He has in the past shown signs of promise with the 33 international wickets to his name. The right-arm pacer will have to compete with senior players like Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami for a place in India's pace attack.
With the ICC's Event Technical Committee approving India's replacement on Saturday, Prasidh Krishna will be up for selection for Sunday's encounter against number two side and World Cup high-flyers South Africa.
The winner of Sunday's match will hold the bragging rights of finishing top of the group stage of the World Cup. The match is also likely to give a glimpse at the possible tournament winners.
