Pandya opened the bowling for Reliance 1 in the DY Patil T20 Cup in Navi Mumbai on Monday afternoon, taking two for 22 from three overs. He then batted at No. 10 and led a tense chase alongside Piyush Chawla. Pandya was unbeaten on three from four balls as Reliance 1 defeated Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited by two wickets.
Pandya has been working his way back to full fitness over the last two months. Following his rehabilitation, Pandya resumed training in Baroda three weeks ago and played alongside Rishabh Pant in three NCA practice T20s in Alur last week. Pandya batted and bowled in all of those matches and was later cleared by the NCA to compete in the DY Patil tournament.
Pandya will return to the NCA in early March for a final fitness assessment before joining the Mumbai Indians’ pre-season camp ahead of the IPL 2024, which starts on March 22.
Pandya will succeed Rohit Sharma as Mumbai’s captain after a frenzy of negotiations following the World Cup, which resulted in the largest player trade in IPL history.
Aside from Pandya, the DY Patil tournament will include Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer.
Suryakumar Yadav, who is still recovering from sports hernia surgery in Germany in January, will not play in the tournament, as previously reported.*
Kishan and Iyer’s absence from the Ranji Trophy has raised concerns, despite the BCCI’s directive to contracted players to prioritize domestic cricket over the IPL.
Iyer’s story is also intriguing. After being left out of India’s squad following scores of 27, 29, 35, and 13 in the first two Tests against England, Iyer missed Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Baroda due to back spasms, according to an MCA selector.
Iyer had back spasms shortly after the second Test in Visakhapatnam but was still selected for the third Test. Fitness permitting, Iyer will return to lead his IPL team, the Kolkata Knight Riders, after missing the previous season due to a back injury that necessitated surgery.
