Hardly the ideal build-up India were hoping for. All signs on Monday pointed to Hardik Pandya sitting out the three-match one-day series against Afghanistan, which starts this Saturday in Dharamsala, after he tweaked a leg muscle during training at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru earlier in the week.
For context, both Pandya and Rohit Sharma had been named in the 16-man squad on the usual “subject to fitness” clause. The pair were due in Chandigarh once the one-off Test against Afghanistan wrapped up inside three days. Only Rohit has travelled. A BCCI official said simply that Pandya is “at the CoE for rehab”, declining to spell out the precise problem.
The board has not yet confirmed the all-rounder’s withdrawal, and Nitish Kumar Reddy, the extra seam-bowling option already with the group, remains on standby. Those close to the camp expect the paperwork to be signed off before the side heads up to the Himalayas on Thursday.
Pandya’s fitness ledger has looked messy for a while. He missed four of Mumbai Indians’ 14 IPL fixtures because of back spasms and only turned out in the last league game on 24 May. Go back further and the left-ankle injury that cut short his 2023 World Cup still looms over every selection meeting.
Even so, the selectors continue to treat him as central to the 2027 World Cup project in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. That is why – with six ODIs in quick succession, three against Afghanistan and three against England – they left him out of the concurrent T20I group.
Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar put that rationale on record last week: “He is a part of the one-day squad right now for the Afghanistan series. Like Jasprit Bumrah, if we can get him playing well and keep him fit for one-day cricket – he hasn’t played much ODI cricket for a while – that is the main objective,” Agarkar said. “We can always bring him back. So there will be a little bit of rest and rotation with regard to T20 cricket in Pandya’s case.”
From a strategic angle, India had pencilled Pandya in as the sole seam-bowling all-rounder, a role that balances the XI and frees a spot for the extra spinner on winter pitches. Without him, the side may have to choose between batting depth and a full complement of bowling options – awkward, especially if the snow-kissed Dharamsala outfield offers a bit of sideways movement.
A final medical update is expected within 48 hours; no one is ruling out a late twist, but privately the team management are preparing for life without their vice-captain for at least the next fortnight.
