Hardik Pandya’s return to competitive cricket has suffered another setback, with the India all-rounder set to miss the upcoming one-day matches against Australia A. Hardik was included in the India A squad for the three-match series starting October 6, but his participation was subject to a fitness test. However, he has now picked up a fresh shin injury and has been advised to rest and avoid physical activity, IANS has reported.
“Yes, Hardik has suffered another injury setback. After the leg niggle, now a shin issue has cropped up, which has complicated things regarding his return to competitive cricketing action. He’s definitely putting in the hard yards to get back to playing again, but a clearer picture of his recovery timeline will come in the coming weeks. 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.
Hardik Set to Miss India A Series Against Australia A
The new injury has also raised doubts over Hardik Pandya’s availability for India’s upcoming New Zealand tour. India are set to play five T20Is, five ODIs and two Tests on the tour. However, Hardik is no longer part of the Test team. Hardik has been recovering since IPL 2026, when he missed some matches for Mumbai Indians. He has been at the BCCI Centre of Excellence since May after suffering back spasms during the IPL. He has not played any competitive cricket since IPL 2026.
Hardik later suffered a leg strain at the CoE while preparing for the ODI series against Afghanistan. He was forced to miss that series as well. He has not played an ODI since India won the Champions Trophy in 2025 and has not played a T20I since India won the 2026 T20 World Cup.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir recently said Hardik was not fit enough to bowl his full 10 overs in ODIs. He also said the team would not rush Hardik back into international cricket. With Hardik unavailable for the West Indies series, India brought in all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy. He was with the Indian team at the Asian Games in Japan and has now been included in the white-ball squad for the West Indies series. The three-match ODI series starts in Thiruvananthapuram on September 27.
“First of all, from Nitish’s point of view, it’s actually a great thing that he’s been withdrawn from a T20 format and he’ll get game time against the West Indies as well.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.
“Once Hardik comes back, obviously it’s going to be good. Sometimes we could even go on to play both of them in the playing 11. But again, Hardik at the moment, yes, he cannot bowl 10 overs, and he hasn’t played a lot of cricket since the IPL. So we don’t want to push him into international cricket because international cricket can be extremely tough on your body as well.
“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. In the meantime, Nitish will get more game time as well because he hasn’t played enough cricket since the IPL either.” Gambhir said.