Why is Hardik Pandya not playing today’s 3rd T20I between India and England at Trent Bridge?

Why is Hardik Pandya not playing: All-rounder Hardik Pandya has been dropped from the playing 11 of Nottingham’s T20I.

England and India are up against each other in the 3rd T20I match at the Trent Bridge Stadium in Nottingham. English captain Jos Buttler won the toss and opted to bat first on a flat track. England made a couple of changes, where Reece Topley and Phil Salt came in for Matt Parkinson and Sam Curran.

Team India made four changes to their playing in the 3rd T20I against England. Rohit Sharma announced at the toss that Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, and Yuzvendra Chahal were replaced by Umran Malik, Ravi Bishnoi, Shreyas Iyer and Avesh Khan.

Rohit Sharma said that they want to look at the different players ahead of the world cup, and that’s why they made four changes to their playing eleven.

“We don’t want to miss out on the winning confidence, but there are a few things we want to have a look at before the World Cup, so the changes,” Rohit said at the toss.

Why is Hardik Pandya not playing

The absence of Hardik Pandya surprised everyone a little as he has been in outstanding form, and he was awarded the player of the match in the 1st T20I at Southampton, where he scored a half-century with the bat and also scalped four wickets with the ball. There is no injury reported, so he is most probably rested considering the ODIs in mind.

Hardik was dropped from the Indian team after the ICC T20 World Cup due to fitness issues, where he was unable to bowl. He made a return to the Indian side in the South Africa T20Is after a successful IPL with the Gujarat Titans. Pandya was the captain of the Titans in the IPL.

Amazing start to the series 🇮🇳

Onto the next one 💪 pic.twitter.com/fjGEABdzKu

— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) July 8, 2022

Pandya scored 487 IPL 2022 runs at 44.27, courtesy of two half-centuries, whereas he also scalped eight wickets with the ball. He played all five T20Is in the South Africa series, where he also led the Indian team for the Ireland T20Is. The form of Hardik with both bat and the ball will be vital for India in the T20 World Cup.

Hardik Pandya has been rested from the upcoming ODIs against West Indies as well, so it is clear that the team management will handle the case of Pandya with care as he is an important asset for the team in the T20 World Cup.