Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir has revealed why Hardik Pandya is unable to make a comeback into international cricket since IPL 2026 season.
Published: September 18, 2026, 11:46 AM IST
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Hardik Pandya has been out of international cricket with injury(Photo: IANS)
India vs West Indies 2026: Mumbai Indians and Team India all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been out of action from professional cricket since the end of the IPL 2026 season in June this yearThe Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selectors wanted to preserve him to play the ODI format of the game in the lead up to the ICC ODI World Cup 2027 next year.
But Pandya injured his quadriceps at the Centre of Excellence (CoE) ahead of India’s ODI series against England in JulySince then Pandya has not been seen on the cricket and still trying to recover from injury.
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The all-rounder, retained for Rs 16.35 crore by Nita Ambani’s MI ahead of IPL 2026, has been selected to represent India ‘A’ team against Australia ‘A’ next month to test his fitnessBut Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir provided an update about Pandya’s fitness
Sunrises Hyderabad all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has taken Hardik Pandya’s berth in the T20I side after returning from injury in the series against AfghanistanReddy has been taken out of the Asian Games 2026 squad to play in the ODI series against West Indies with Pandya yet to recover from injury.
“No, first of all, from Nitish’s point of view, it’s actually a great thing that he’s been withdrawn from T20 format, and he’ll get game time against the West Indies as wellWe know how important seam bowling all-rounders will be, probably in a year’s time when we go to South Africa,” said Gambhir in the post match press conference after the 3rd T20I match vs Afghanistan on Thursday.
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Pandya will have to prove his match fitness in the A series against Australia next month at Puducherry“And once Hardik comes back, obviously, it’s going to be goodSometimes, we could even go on to play both (he and Reddy) of them in the playing elevenBut, again, Hardik at the moment, yes, he cannot bowl 10 overs, and he hasn’t played a lot of cricket since the IPLSo, 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 wellAnd 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 a part of the T20s and the one-day squad as well,” Gambhir said about Hardik Pandya.
Pandya has turned out in 94 ODI matches for Team India and scored 1904 runs at an average of 32.82 with 11 fifties and claimed 91 wickets at an average of 35.5 in his career so far.
Gambhir believes with Pandya still on the sidelines, it will help Nitish to get more game time“In the meantime, Nitish will get more game time as well, because he hasn’t played enough cricket since the IPL eitherSo, I think it’s good that we’ve got Nitish now from the Asian Games, and you could see, the more he bowls, the better he becomes.
“And when you can develop a couple of seam bowling all-rounders, it will always be handy in a year’s time (for World Cup),” Gambhir added.
Reddy conceded 15 runs after he was asked to bowl the first over of Afghanistan innings on ThursdayHe bounced back to take three wickets in India’s massive 127-run win in the third T20I matchHe had also claimed three wickets in the 2nd T20I match on Tuesday.
“It’s been a huge plus for us because we want to expose him to most of the international games, because we know how important he isWhether it’s in the 50-over format or going forward in T20s as well, because there are not many going around — guys who can bowl and who can bat in the middle-order.
“So it’s a massive positive, the way he’s bowled in this seriesObviously, he didn’t start off that well in the first game, but then we always know that the more you bowl in international cricket, the more you’re going to get better, and that’s what he’s shown today,” Gambhir felt.
