Hardik Pandya’s injury, as reported by this website on Saturday (September 26), is to his shin bone, but there is no fracture, Cricbuzz can confirm. The injury rules him out of the immediate India A series against Australia A. But his participation in the away series in New Zealand next month, remains uncertain if not out of the equation.
According to information obtained by this website, Hardik has a symptomatic right tibial bone stress response. And Cricbuzz has confirmed information that he has no structural bone damage or ‘established stress fracture’. Such injuries, normally require four to six weeks for recovery.
The injury, the latest among many in recent times, keeps him out of the India A team’s home one-day matches against Australia A, starting early next month. He was, anyway, a conditional pick for the three 50-over games to be played in Puducherry on October 6, 9 and 11 as per the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announcement of September 9. Pandya has been out of action since the IPL.
Hardik’s last T20I appearance came in the World Cup final in Ahmedabad in March. His last ODI was in the Champions Trophy final in March 2025. He featured in 10 of the 14 matches in this year’s IPL but has not played competitive cricket since.
In New Zealand, India will play 10 white ball games – the T20Is from October 22 to November 1 and the ODIs from November 4 to 15. It may still be a long shot for the ODIs, if not for the T20Is, but sources close to the allrounder say he is very keen to return to action. Currently, he has been advised two weeks rest by the medical team of the Centre of Excellence (CoE).
Gautam Gambhir recently emphasised on the importance of Pandya in India’s white ball plans. “Very few teams have a player like that who can bowl 10 overs for you, plus bat at number six or seven, plus with that impact. So the focus right now is just that,” the India coach said on JioStar recently.
“He needs game time as well. Because after the IPL he hasn’t played a lot of cricket. So if the focus is only that he has to play the 50-over format, then he might be short of cricket. So sometimes you will also think that in T20 cricket, if he plays a bit of T20 cricket, then plays One Day cricket because game time going into the World Cup is going to be extremely, extremely important. You cannot go there half-cooked.”
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