India has received a pleasant surprise in the form of Hardik Pandya, the key all-rounder who has been sidelined for a while, and he is expected to return to the international scene in the T20I series against South Africa. Reports have suggested that the BCCI Center of Excellence (CoE) has permitted him to bowl and the player will be in the SMAT to show his fitness.
A hard-hit player, Hardik has been off the field for a long time with an injury will soon join the T20I squad if he proves fit. Consequently, two players may have to be released from the squad to make room for Hardik. Here are the three players who are most likely to be affected if the return of Hardik happens.
1) Nitish Kumar Reddy
Nitish Kumar Reddy was considered the future of India and Hardik’s successor after his phenomenal Test century at MCG last year. Besides, he was lucky enough to show his impact in the T20I series just before the BGT, but since the very beginning of 2025, he has been under the weather as he got injured and was also absent from the last T20I series against Australia.
On the other hand, the exclusion of Nitish Reddy is not going to be based on his performances but is a direct reflection of the fact that he can only be when Hardik is invited in. He will simply be placed in over his head only if Hardik can come through.
Hardik has the ability to take on the finisher’s role, which Nitish Reddy cannot do; additionally, he can give India four strong overs, which again, Nitish has not so far done for India. Therefore, simply on the basis of skills, Hardik should supersede Nitish.
2) Rinku Singh
For some reason, a gifted batsman like Rinku Singh is still not being accommodated in the playing XI despite producing good results in the IPL. He is part of the squad, however, in some crucial games, the selection of the team excludes him from the playing XI in favor of a multitude of all-rounders.
Additionally, in 2025, he has been limited to only five T20I matches, and the data speaks for itself as a sad tale.
(Rinku Singh T20I stats in 2025)
Presently, there are a few T20I matches that India has played this year, and Rinku’s participation was only in five of them.
Besides, the numbers show that the batter has been having a hard time scoring runs, and the strike rate of 130 is not enough to support his presence. Thus, if Hardik returns, Rinku is the one who might be let go as a result of that.
Gautam Gambhir values all-rounders in the team, and Hardik’s dual role (batting and bowling) enables him to have the upper hand over Rinku, who is just a batsman.
3) Axar Patel
The year 2024, where Axar Patel was the main player in India’s T20 World Cup victory, was the opposite of the current year which has been tough for him in terms of scoring runs and taking wickets.
He has participated in 17 matches in 2025, but his impact has definitely been less when compared to 2024 and the stats show his downfall in the areas of wickets and batting strike rate
(Axar in T20Is in 2025)
There has been a drop in the batting strike rate over the past year. He used to hit at 137 in 2024 but the number fell to 124 in 2025. Moreover, in 2024, he took 20 wickets where this year he has just 14 in his name.
There could be competition amongst him and Washington Sundar, and going by the recent favoritism, the latter has been the one getting the preference which could mean that Axar is going to be on the list of players to be dropped if Hardik comes back in T20Is.
Spin won’t be a significant factor under Indian conditions, especially with dew playing a role, and Hardik’s batting is still far superior compared to Axar.