India coach Gautam Gambhir said Hardik Pandya is not yet fit to bowl 10 overs in ODIs and will not be rushed back. Pandya may return through India A’s series against Australia A, while Nitish Kumar Reddy gets more game time against the West Indies.

New Delhi: Ace seam-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya is not yet fit enough to bowl his full quota of 10 overs in ODIs and will not be hurried back into international cricket, said India head coach Gautam Gambhir.

Pandya hasn’t played competitive cricket since IPL 2026 due to rehabbing from a back injury picked while leading Mumbai Indians. A quadriceps injury and a leg niggle meant Pandya wasn’t picked for the white-ball games against Afghanistan, Ireland, England, Zimbabwe.

Though Pandya was a notable absence in 3-0 T20I series win over Afghanistan and in the upcoming white-ball series against the West Indies, he has been named in the India A squad for the 50-over series against Australia A, although his final inclusion is subject to fitness clearance from the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru.

With Hardik still unavailable, India chose to withdraw seam-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy from the Asian Games in Japan and slotted him into the white-ball games against the West Indies, starting with the three-match ODI series in Thiruvananthapuram on September 27.