Hardik Pandya to Join Indian Squad for T20 World Cup in New York

India's vice-captain Hardik Pandya is set to join the Rohit Sharma-led squad in New York on Sunday afternoon ahead of the upcoming Men's T20 World Cup. Pandya's absence from the first batch of Indian players and support staff departing for New York on Saturday night had raised eyebrows.

According to Cricbuzz, Pandya had been vacationing overseas after Mumbai Indians' disappointing IPL 2024 campaign ended with a defeat to Lucknow Super Giants. He is now on his way to New York to link up with the Indian team for the showpiece event starting from June 1.

Pandya's IPL 2024 performance was underwhelming, with the all-rounder struggling with both bat and ball. He managed only 216 runs in 14 matches at an average of 18 and a strike-rate of 143.05. With the ball, he picked up 11 wickets at an economy-rate of 10.75 and average of 35.18.

As a leader, Pandya failed to inspire Mumbai Indians, who finished at the bottom of the points table. This was a stark contrast to his successful stint as captain of Gujarat Titans, who won the IPL title in 2022 and finished runners-up in 2023.

Other players who will join the Indian team later include Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Avesh Khan, who played for Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 of IPL 2024. Traveling reserve Rinku Singh, who will be playing in the IPL title clash on Sunday night, will also join the squad. Virat Kohli has reportedly sought permission to join the team late.

Apart from Rohit, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and traveling substitutes Shubman Gill and Khaleel Ahmed, left for New York from Mumbai on Saturday night.

India is set to play their lone warm-up game against Bangladesh at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on June 1. Their Men's T20 World Cup campaign begins on June 5 against Group A opponents Ireland in New York, followed by a highly-anticipated clash against Pakistan on June 9.

India will then face co-hosts USA on June 12 in New York, before going to Florida to take on Canada on June 15 to wrap up their Group A league matches. India were the inaugural winners of the Men's T20 World Cup in 2007 and are aiming to claim the silverware for just the second time through the upcoming tournament.

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