Hardik Pandya sweats it out in the gym ahead of the T20I series against Afghanistan – WATCH VIDEO

Hardik Pandya was ruled out midway through the 2023 ODI World Cup due to an ankle injury against Bangladesh.

Hardik Pandya will lead Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024.

New Delhi: Hardik Pandya is on his way to full fitness for the home T20I series against Afghanistan, which starts on January 11. The India all-rounder was ruled out midway through the 2023 ODI World Cup at home due to an ankle injury against Bangladesh and missed the T20I series against Australia and the white-ball portion of the South Africa tour. While several media reports suggested he could miss the series against Afghanistan, his recent video on Instagram indicates the opposite.

In the video, Pandya was seen sweating it out during an intense gym session as she performed multiple exercises. He captioned the post: “Progress, every day.” As reported by PTI, the BCCI will soon announce the Indian squad for the T20I series against Afghanistan.

The BCCI selectors are already in South Africa, where India will play a Test series against the Proteas. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar will join his team later this week as they will meet Indian captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid before announcing the names.

For Hardik, the series against Afghanistan will be an ideal platform to assess his fitness ahead of the IPL 2024. The all-rounder has been named the new captain of Mumbai Indians, replacing Rohit. Before the unknown, Rohit led Mumbai Indians to five IPL titles.

Pandya, who came into limelight with Mumbai Indians in 2015. He spent seven seasons with the Mumbai-based franchise before taking on the captaincy duties at Gujarat Titans and leading them to their maiden title on their debut in 2022. Gujarat also reached the final in 2023. under Pandya.

Meanwhile, both Rohit and former India captain Virat Kohli have strongly expressed their interest in playing the T20 World until 2024 in the US and West Indies. The Indian duo played in the shortest format of the match for India since their 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final against England.