In the game against Pakistan that wasn’t going their way anyway, India suffered another setback in the form of a shoulder injury to Hardik Pandya. He pulled his shoulder in the last over of the game and was seen stretching it after his dismissal.
Later, he went for the scan and did not take the field in Pakistan’s chase of 152 runs in their first game of the tournament.
Hardik was already a doubtful starter for the first game and the tournament because of his unavailability as an all-rounder, who could offer some overs with the ball.
He has not regained full fitness to resume bowling and lack of form with the bat in the Indian Premier League had a big setback on his chances of making the playing XI. However, he was backed by Virat Kohli for the first game.
India stumbled and struggled to reach 151 runs in their 20 overs with the bat while Pakistan responded in a resounding manner with the skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan putting on a 100-run partnership.
Pakistan have been successful on the previous 12 attempts against India in world cups and if they achieve 152 runs, it will be their first win over their arch-rivals in any world cup.