India’s pace all-rounder problem is not about Hardik Pandya’s fitness. It is about the complete failure of a system that has spent over a decade producing batters, spinners, and specialist seamers while ignoring the one role that balances every squad in every format.
Pandya has not played competitive cricket since IPL 2026. He is rehabbing at the BCCI Centre of Excellence with a left quadriceps and calf injury. He was ruled out of the Afghanistan ODIs in June, then the England ODIs in July. His last ODI appearance was in March 2025. India head into a Test series in Sri Lanka starting August 15 without their only pace-bowling all-rounder available for selection.
India still does not have a second pace-bowling all-rounder after Hardik Pandya. Not one. The system has produced batters, spinners, and specialist seamers. But the one role that balances every squad in every format remains a single-player dependency with no successor in sight.
Cricket Voices, August 6, 2026
The names tell the story. Stuart Binny. Vijay Shankar. Shivam Dube. Venkatesh Iyer. Shardul Thakur. Raj Angad Bawa. Every one of them was tried as a Hardik Pandya replacement at some point. None of them stuck. Dube bowled a total of three overs across three IPL seasons from 2023 to 2025. Iyer bowled zero overs in IPL 2025. When Pandya went down during the 2023 ODI World Cup against Bangladesh, India replaced him with specialist seamer Prasidh Krishna. Not an all-rounder. Because they did not have one.
“No one is close to him as an all-rounder in the current lot. But his body is fragile. He was injured in 2023 as well, and after that it has not been the same.”
Mohammad Kaif, YouTube channel, June 24, 2026
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The coaching staff knows the gap exists. India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate confirmed in June 2026 that Nitish Kumar Reddy is being groomed as the long-term successor. But grooming is not the same as readiness. Nitish has taken five wickets in 28 IPL career matches. His bowling economy in IPL 2024 was 11.62. He missed the second Afghanistan ODI with a thigh niggle. A 23-year-old who bowls at 130-140 kmph and cannot stay fit for three consecutive ODIs is not a backup. He is another project.
“There is no replacement for Hardik Pandya. Hardik Pandya’s replacement is Hardik Pandya.”
Parthiv Patel, Star Sports, June 2026
The Role India Refuses to Build For
A pace-bowling all-rounder is not a luxury pick. It is the player who gives a captain a sixth bowling option when the game turns sideways and adds 30 runs at number seven when the top order collapses. Without that player, the squad loses depth in both departments at once. Every team that has won a major ICC event in the last 15 years carried at least two viable options in this role. England had Flintoff, then Stokes with Woakes as cover. Australia had Watson, then Marsh. New Zealand had Neesham and de Grandhomme operating together. India has had one player for an entire decade. The moment that player breaks down, the entire squad balance collapses. That is not a selection problem. That is a structural weakness.
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The IPL was supposed to be the development ground. Instead, the impact player rule killed the one environment where a second pace all-rounder could have emerged under match pressure. When a franchise can substitute a specialist batter for the all-rounder’s batting innings or bring on a fifth bowler to cover the all-rounder’s overs, the all-rounder stops being needed as an all-rounder. Dube stopped bowling. Iyer stopped bowling. Nitish barely bowled. The candidates who should have been logging 40-50 overs a season under high-intensity conditions were instead sitting with the bat, developing half their skillset while the other half withered. Venkatesh Iyer himself admitted that the rule reduced opportunities for players like him, Dube, and Nitish.
“The result is predictable. India’s spin all-rounder depth is settled with Jadeja and Axar Patel alone. Now list the pace-bowling all-rounders behind Pandya who can bowl 8-10 overs in an ODI and score 30-plus at number seven. The silence is the answer.”
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