Hardik Pandya’s return has been hit with another delay as the India all-rounder is set to miss the one-dayers against Australia A due to a fresh injury setback.
The all-rounder picked up a leg strain at the CoE in the build-up to the ODI series against Afghanistan and subsequently missed that series as well. “First of all, from Nitish’s point of view, it’s actually a great thing that he’s been withdrawn from a T20 format and he’ll get game time against the West Indies as well. We know how important seam-bowling all-rounders will be probably in a year’s time when we go to South Africa and Namibia. “So if he plays those, that India A series, obviously he’ll get some game time as well, and that was the clear message to him that if he can play that A series and then if everything goes well, he can come back and be part of the T20s and the one-day squad as well.
Because he hasn’t played enough cricket since the IPL either, in the meantime, Nitish will get more game time as well. Hardik, who was named in the India A squad for the three one-dayers from October 6, subject to fitness clearance, has suffered a shin issue and has been asked to rest and avoid to do physical activity, IANS has learnt. He has not played an ODI since the 2025 Champions Trophy win and the T20Is since the T20 World Cup 2026 win. As Hardik was not available for the West Indies series, India brought in seam-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy from the Asian Games in Japan and slotted him into the white-ball games against the Windies, starting with the three-match ODI series in Thiruvananthapuram on September 27. Gambhir said in the post-match press conference after India wrapped up the 3-0 T20I series win over Afghanistan with a thumping 127-run win at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
“For now, he’s been advised complete rest and to not do any kind of serious physical activity,” said a source familiar with the matter to IANS on Saturday.
