Hardik Pandya hasn’t played international cricket since the T20 World Cup final in March, and Gautam Gambhir isn’t rushing him back even as the build-up to the 2027 ODI World Cup enters its final 12 months. Speaking after India’s third T20I win over Afghanistan, the India head coach gave the clearest picture yet of where Pandya stands. The ace all-rounder, who has been blighted by injuries, was recently picked for India A’s series against Australia ‘A’ but is still some way short of achieving the necessary fitness to bowl 10 overs.
“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,” Gambhir said. “So if he plays 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.”
The Hardik situation has a direct bearing on how Gambhir is readying Nitish Reddy, who returned from an injury of his own to pick up six wickets across the Afghanistan T20I series. Nitish was pulled out of India’s Asian Games squad to instead get a run at ODI cricket, as India look to give enough match time to their key players ahead of next year’s showpiece event in Africa.
“From Nitish’s point of view, it’s actually a great thing that he’s been withdrawn from a T20 format and he’ll get game time against West Indies as well.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 once Hardik comes back, obviously he’s going to be good. Sometimes we could even go on to play both of them in the playing 11,” Gambhir said.
He was equally direct about what Nitish has shown in this series. “It’s been a huge plus for us because we want to expose him to most of the international game because we know how important he is, whether it’s in 50-over format or going forward in T20s as well because, you know, there are not many going around guys who can bowl and who can bat at the middle order. So it’s a massive positive that the way he’s bowled in this series.”
While Nitish will get game time to get his body and skills into the rhythm of 50-over cricket, India will still not be able to field their best possible side against West Indies given the scheduling clash with the Asian Games. Several regular ODI players will be at the continental event in Japan instead. With the 50-over World Cup a little more than a year out, Gambhir didn’t pretend the timing suited him.
“Look, it’s not ideal. Obviously, we know that it’s not ideal when we are preparing for a World Cup, which is in years’ time. But again, the Asian Games squad was selected long back,” he said.
“You want your best players to play as much as possible because the next World Cup is a 50-over World Cup. And more importantly, it’s not fair on a young captain as well if he doesn’t get the best team, playing consistently and regularly and not being on the path consistently.
“That’s why I have to be dead honest. I think it is important for Shubman [Gill] to get the best team as many times as he can in red ball and in white ball formats as well.”
Gambhir was equally clear-eyed about the upside. “Sometimes it’s difficult for the selectors when they have to put the best squad in place. So, we always knew that if the best team goes to the best, the front-line players go to the Asian Games.
“Obviously, we will have to probably compromise a bit in this one-day series against West Indies. But again, it gives other people the opportunity as well. And obviously, in a series like this, we’ve got young guys like Naman Dhir, Auqib [Nabi], getting those opportunities in this squad. So, they can also show what they bring in white ball format.”
