Hardik Pandya Injury Update: Reports are claiming that Hardik Pandya, who is suffering from injury, will not be able to play the ODI series against South Africa, but also know when he will return to the team.

IND vs SA: Hardik Pandya was initially supposed to make his comeback in the ODI series against South Africa, which has now been postponed.

The Indian cricket team is preparing to play the second Test match against South Africa in Guwahati, but all eyes are on Team India's selection for the ODI series. Several reports have claimed that injured Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya will not return for the India-South Africa ODI series. The BCCI has decided to give Pandya more time to fully recover. As such, Pandya will not be seen in the Indian team in the three-match ODI series starting on November 30, but will return in the second series.

Earlier this was the plan for return

According to a report in the Times of India, Hardik Pandya was originally scheduled to return to the cricket pitch by playing for Vadodara in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy. The tournament is scheduled to be played early next week, but that plan has now been changed. This also changes Hardik Pandya's plans to return to Team India in the ODI series against South Africa. The three matches of this series are scheduled to be played in Ranchi on November 30th, Raipur on December 3rd, and Visakhapatnam on December 6th.

Will play in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, but...

According to the report, instead of playing directly in the 50-over format for Team India, Pandya will return to the cricket pitch by playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match for Vadodara from November 30 or December 2. The 32-year-old Pandya was originally scheduled to travel directly to Hyderabad next week, but will now leave late. However, this will still give him the opportunity to play at least three matches in the trophy so he can gain match practice before the five-match T20 series against South Africa. This T20 series is scheduled to be played from December 9, which is considered important for Pandya's return to the field to avoid a heavy workload.

This is why this change in the plan has happened

This change in Pandya's return plan has been made on the advice of the medical team at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (BCCI CoE) in Bengaluru, which is monitoring Pandya's rehabilitation. The team believes that playing in the ODI series against South Africa would have given Pandya a maximum of one or two competitive matches, but after being away from cricket for nearly two months, directly subjecting his body to a 50-over batting and 50-over fielding format could be detrimental. The medical team, BCCI, and team management have prioritized the T20 World Cup, scheduled for February-March next year, over the ODI series against South Africa. Consequently, Pandya has been advised to gradually increase the pressure on his body rather than taking on a massive workload. Therefore, he has been instructed to return with a 20-over format instead of a 50-over format.

What is said in the report

The report quoted a top official as saying, "Not just Hardik Pandya, the CoE has always adopted this approach to players with a long injury history returning to the pitch. Scheduling is essential when you have a long absence from the game. T20 cricket is ideal for gradually increasing the workload on the body. If Hardik plays in the ODI series against South Africa, it would mean he would have to play ODIs and T20 matches within a few days of each other. This would not be an ideal situation for returning to play after a long gap."

Pandya has been in Bengaluru for several weeks.

Hardik Pandya missed the Asia Cup 2025 final against Pakistan in September due to injury. He has been recovering at the Centre for Excellence in Bengaluru for the past several weeks. This has prevented him from playing in the ODI and T20I series against Australia at home, and will now also miss the ODI series against South Africa. However, this will allow him to return to action in the T20Is against South Africa.

PC:NBT