India all-rounder Hardik Pandya is missing the Asia Cup final. Here's why.
India make three changes for Asia Cup final; Hardik Pandya misses out
At the toss ahead of the final in Dubai, India skipper Suryakumar Yadav called correctly and elected to field first. India made three changes to their XI, from their last Super Fours game against Sri Lanka. Hardik Pandya, Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh missed out as Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube and Jasprit Bumrah came into the team.
Also read: Miandad’s six, Sreesanth’s catch: A brief history of India vs Pakistan finals in major tournaments
Pandya has been a regular in India's T20 side, and had played all six of India's matches in the tournament before this. Against Sri Lanka, he bowled the first over of the second innings, but left the field after completing it.
He did not return during the course of the innings, leaving India with five bowling options instead of six. The match was eventually tied, and India won the Super Over. At the post-match presentation, SKY said, "Few boys had a lot of cramps today. Have a good recovery day tomorrow and we will turn up the same way we did today." Tilak Varma also left the field briefly in the second innings.
Pandya was not active during the Indian team's warm-up session ahead of the final, and clearly has not recovered from the issue that affected him last time out.
Final, India vs Pakistan
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How have India replaced Hardik Pandya?
The returns of Dube and Bumrah were expected – the pair have been part of India's first-choice side in this tournament, in place of Rana and Arshdeep. Effectively, India have replaced Pandya, a seam-bowling all-rounder, with Rinku, a batter.
That replaces Pandya's batting, but his bowling load will likely have to be taken up by Dube. Pandya has largely bowled one or two overs in the Powerplay during the Asia Cup, with Bumrah bowling three. India may tweak this slightly, in order to ensure more cover with an extra Bumrah over in the slog overs.
Dube has not taken the new ball often in T20 cricket – he did so for a second-string India team at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, and his only other experience came in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Mumbai against Baroda in 2018. In the 2024 SMAT though, he did bowl at the death fairly often for Mumbai.
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