Hardik Pandya is spending quality time with his family as he continues to recover from the ankle injury that he sustained during the recently concluded 2023 World Cup. The Men in Blue missed out on his services in the final as Pat Cummins-led Australia won by six wickets to clinch their sixth trophy in the marquee ICC tournament.
Following the ICC event, the all-rounder missed the five-match T20I series against Australia. He will also miss the upcoming three-game T20I and ODI series in South Africa. It remains to be seen whether Pandya will make his comeback with the three T20Is against Afghanistan in January.
Suryakumar Yadav, meanwhile, is filling the captaincy role in Pandya’s absence.
On Sunday (December 3), Hardik’s wife Natasa Stankovic shared photos with her husband on Instagram. The post also included brother-in-law Krunal Pandya and sister-in-law Pankhuri Sharma.
In the photos, the Pandya brothers were seen in casual looks as Pankhuri and Natasa held their shopping items in the right frame. Natasa captioned the post:
“Their holiday season vs our holiday season.”
Hardik Pandya recently moved back to Mumbai Indians from Gujarat Titans for INR 15 crore during the trade window ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League.
The move came even as Pandya guided GT to their maiden IPL trophy in their inaugural 2022 season. The Baroda-born all-rounder also guided the Titans to the IPL 2023 final before losing to eventual champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Meanwhile, Krunal Pandya was retained by Lucknow Super Giants for IPL 2024.
How Mumbai Indians look ahead of IPL 2024 auction ft. Hardik Pandya
Mumbai Indians will enter the IPL 2024 auction with INR 17.75 crore. Apart from Hardik Pandya, they have retained 16 players and traded Romario Shephard. The much-awaited auction is scheduled to take place in Dubai on December 19.
Retained Players: Akash Madhwal, Arjun Tendulkar, Cameron Green, Dewald Brevis, Ishan Kishan, Jason Behrendorff, Jasprit Bumrah, Kumar Kartikeya Singh, N. Tilak Varma, Nehal Wadhera, Piyush Chawla, Rohit Sharma, Romario Shepherd (T), Hardik Pandya (T), Shams Mulani, Surya Kumar Yadav, Tim David, and Vishnu Vinod.
Released Players: Chris Jordan, Duan Jansen, Hrithik Shokeen, Jhye Richardson, Jofra Archer, Mohd. Arshad Khan, Raghav Goyal, Ramandeep Singh, Roley Meredith, Sandeep Warrier, and Tristan Stubbs.
Follow IPL Auction 2025 Live Updates, News & Biddings at Sportskeeda. Get the fastest updates on Mega-Auction and cricket news