ndia head coach Gautam Gambhir has made it clear that Hardik Pandya will not return to the ODI side until he has played real cricket. Speaking on JioHotstar on 24 September, Gambhir said Hardik needs game time before the 2027 World Cup.
Hardik was left out of the West Indies ODI squad, announced on 16 September, on fitness grounds. Gambhir still rates him as a player few teams can match.
“If you talk about Hardik, very few teams have a player like that who can bowl 10 overs for you, plus bat at number six or seven, plus with that impact. But he needs game time as well.”
Gautam Gambhir, JioHotstar interview, 24 September 2026
That combination is why India are waiting. Gambhir has called a seam-bowling all-rounder important for when India go to South Africa next year. For now, Nitish Kumar Reddy holds that spot in the West Indies ODI squad.
Gambhir’s concern is not talent. It is how little cricket Hardik has played.
“Because after the IPL, he hasn’t played a lot of cricket. So if the focus is only that he has to play the 50-over format, then he might be short of cricket.”
Gautam Gambhir, JioHotstar interview, 24 September 2026
Six days earlier, after India’s 3-0 T20I sweep of Afghanistan, Gambhir was more direct. He said Hardik could not bowl ten overs yet and India would not push him into international cricket.
“If you talk about Hardik, very few teams have a player like that who can bowl 10 overs for you, plus bat at number six or seven, plus with that impact. But he needs game time as well,” @GautamGambhir said.https://t.co/MkityZXfY6
— Circle of Cricket (@circleofcricket) September 24, 2026
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| IPL 2026 | Back spasms while captaining Mumbai Indians, missed four matches |
| June 2026 | Quadriceps strain ruled him out of the Afghanistan ODIs |
| Since then | Missed white-ball tours of Ireland, England and Zimbabwe |
| 16 September | Left out of the West Indies squads |
| 6, 9, 11 October | India A vs Australia A one-dayers, Puducherry |
Hardik is in the India A one-day squad under Ruturaj Gaikwad, subject to fitness clearance. Gambhir has said that if those matches go well, Hardik can return to the T20I and ODI squads.
His last international match was the T20 World Cup final against New Zealand in March. His last ODI came at the 2025 Champions Trophy.
The number Gambhir keeps returning to is ten overs, not a fitness score. What a fitness test cannot show is what a recovering back does in the second and third spell of the same day.
Insider Read
Ten overs in an ODI is not one 60-ball effort. It comes in three spells, with an hour of fielding in between while the back cools and stiffens. A body coming off a back injury rarely breaks in the first spell. It breaks when it has to hit the crease hard again from cold, on tired legs, at the death.
Nets cannot copy that. In rehab you bowl your overs, stop, and nobody asks you to field for 20 overs and then bowl the 45th with the game on the line. That is what Puducherry is for, and why Gambhir wants overs in a match, not a clearance certificate.
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