It has been reported that Hardik Pandya could likely miss home series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe and he might return to action directly in IPL 2027. Pandya hasn’t played any professional cricket since IPL 2026 due to injury woes.
He was recently named in India’s white-ball squad for India A series against Australia but his availability was subject to fitness clearance. However, Pandya was ruled out of the series with a fresh injury, suffering a tibial bone stress.
Furthermore, Pandya played only 10 out of the 14 matches for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2026 due to injury woes.
According to a report in Dainik Jagran, Pandya will start jogging after three weeks.
“Hardik Pandya could appear directly in the IPL. Injured Hardik will be able to start jogging three weeks later, after that running load will be increased for eight weeks. It will still take a lot of time to be fully match-fit,” the report states.
“No deadline has been set yet for him to be fully match-fit. He has not been selected for the New Zealand tour. In such a situation, it does not seem possible for him to play in the ODI and T20 series against Sri Lanka starting December 13, nor in the ODI series against Zimbabwe starting January 3. If we talk about domestic cricket, by then the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy will also be over,” the report adds.
Pandya has been troubled with injury woes in the recent past and has struggled to play consistently for the team.
India have tried seam-bowling all-rounders like Shivam Dube and Nitish Kumar Reddy, but the duo hasn’t been able to deliver consistently, especially with the ball.
