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Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai
Subhayan Chakraborty, Dharamsala
On Tuesday evening, Hardik Pandya was on the verge of getting the all-clear from the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru before he reportedly picked up a quadriceps strain and was ruled out of India’s three-match home ODI series against Afghanistan starting in Dharamsala on Saturday.
According to sources, the fresh injury probably has resulted from bowling the full quota of 10 overs during the assessment. It is learnt that a scan was done at a private hospital where the injury was detected. It could sideline the all-rounder for three weeks and the earliest he is expected to return to competitive cricket is the three-match ODI series in England in July. Given Hardik’s injury record, there would always be a question mark though.
The bigger question is about whether Hardik’s body can take the rigours of bowling the full quota of 10 overs in an ODI. Even the selectors seem to be a bit sceptical about how his body is going to hold up, a reason why they have decided to use him solely in the 50-over format for the time being. Hardik is not part of India’s T20I squad that will tour Ireland and England later this month, and at the team selection press conference last week, chief selector Ajit Agarkar had spelt out the reason.
“He is part of the ODIs,” the chief selector had said. “Just like Jasprit Bumrah, the main objective is to see if he can start playing well and stay healthy for the 50-over World Cup in 2027.”
The next year’s ODI World Cup in South Africa is now the priority for the BCCI as far as white-ball cricket is concerned, and there’s no like-for-like replacement for the country’s No. 1 all-rounder in the shorter formats. Shivam Dube or Nitish Kumar Reddy doesn’t have Hardik’s skill set.
Then again, he hasn’t played an ODI since the Champions Trophy final on March 9, 2025. Earlier this year, Hardik wasn’t picked for the three-match home ODI series against New Zealand despite scoring a century in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. “Hardik Pandya has not been cleared by the BCCI COE to bowl 10 overs in a match and considering the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to follow, his workload is being managed,” the BCCI had stated in a press release.
Not much appears to have changed since. Hardik bowling the full quota of 10 overs is coming with a risk of him breaking down. It was the case at the CoE this week.
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