Why Hardik Pandya is not playing: Why Hardik Pandya didn’t field in Kolkata Knight Riders vs Gujarat Titans IPL 2022 match?

Why Hardik Pandya is not playing: The captain of Gujarat Titans didn’t field in the second half of their bowling innings today.

During the 35th match of the ongoing 15th season of the Indian Premier League between Kolkata Knight Riders and Gujarat Titans in Navi Mumbai, Gujarat Titans beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 8 runs to become the first team to win six matches this season.

Captain Hardik Pandya, who became the first captain to win the toss and bat first in IPL 2022, led from the front by taking the responsibility of batting at No. 3 – doing so after six years in the IPL.

Top-scoring for Titans, Pandya contributed with his 67 (49) comprising of four fours and two sixes being the only positive points for their team in an otherwise below par batting performance.

“How will @hardikpandya7 manage his all-round workload + Captaincy?”

Meanwhile Hardik 😎 #GTvKKR #IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/NOV1MbdTHN

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) April 23, 2022

Had it not been for fast bowler Mohammed Shami and vice-captain Rashid Khan registering combined bowling figures of 8-0-42-4, defending a lowest IPL 2022 innings total of 157 runs would’ve been next to impossible for GT.

Why Hardik Pandya is not playing vs KKR today?

Pandya, who had missed their last match against defending champions Chennai Super Kings due to a groin injury, went off the ground around the halfway mark at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy tonight.

While Pandya didn’t seem to be in trouble whilst batting, it was in the seventh over that he provided first signs of facing some difficulty on the field. It was in his attempt to prevent a ball from reaching the boundary that Pandya dived to cause some discomfort to himself.

As a result, Pandya was spotted in the dugout throughout the innings as Rashid Khan once again performed captaincy duties in the middle. For now, there has been no official statement about the extent of Pandya’s injury.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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