Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Sep 26: India all-rounder Hardik Pandya’s return to competitive cricket has suffered another setback, with the 32-year-old set to miss the upcoming one-day series against Australia A due to a fresh shin injury.
Hardik had been named in the India A squad for the three-match series against Australia A beginning October 6, subject to fitness clearance. However, he has now been advised complete rest after developing a shin issue, reports has learnt.
"Yes, Hardik has suffered another injury setback. After the leg niggle, now a shin issue has cropped up, which has complicated things regarding his return to competitive cricketing action. He’s definitely putting in the hard yards to get back to playing again, but a clearer picture of his recovery timeline will come in the coming weeks," a source familiar with the matter told reporters on Saturday.
"For now, he’s been advised complete rest and to not do any kind of serious physical activity," the source added.
The latest setback has also put Hardik’s participation in India’s upcoming New Zealand tour in doubt. India are scheduled to play five T20Is and five ODIs against New Zealand, besides two Tests, although Hardik is no longer part of the Test setup.
Hardik has been working on his recovery since IPL 2026, during which he missed part of Mumbai Indians’ campaign. He has been at the BCCI Centre of Excellence since May after suffering back spasms during the IPL and has not played competitive cricket since the tournament.
The all-rounder later suffered a leg strain at the CoE while preparing for the ODI series against Afghanistan and subsequently missed that series as well.
Hardik has not played an ODI since India’s Champions Trophy triumph in 2025 and has also been out of T20I action since India’s T20 World Cup 2026 victory.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir had recently said Hardik was not yet fit enough to bowl his full quota of 10 overs in ODI cricket and stressed that the team would not rush him back into international cricket.
With Hardik unavailable for the West Indies series, India brought seam-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy into the white-ball setup after his participation in the Asian Games in Japan. He has been included for the limited-overs matches against the West Indies, beginning with the three-match ODI series in Thiruvananthapuram on September 27.
Gambhir had said Nitish’s availability would give him valuable game time and help India assess their options in the seam-bowling all-rounder role.
"First of all, 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 the 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 Namibia," Gambhir said.
He added that India could potentially field both Nitish and Hardik once the latter regains full fitness, but said Hardik could not currently bowl 10 overs and had not played enough 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.
The India head coach had earlier indicated that the Australia A series was intended to provide Hardik with competitive game time before a possible return to the senior international side.
"So if he plays those, 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. In the meantime, Nitish will get more game time as well because he hasn't played enough cricket since the IPL either," Gambhir said.
He was speaking at the post-match press conference after India completed a 3-0 T20I series victory over Afghanistan with a 127-run win at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Hardik’s latest injury means his return timeline will now depend on his recovery from the shin issue and subsequent fitness assessments.