Auckland: India captain Shubman Gill has laid out the road back for Hardik Pandya in plain terms: the all-rounder will play domestic cricket before he returns to the Indian team.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference on Tuesday, on the eve of the first ODI against New Zealand at Eden Park, Gill stressed both Pandya’s value and the non-negotiable fitness test that stands between him and a recall. “Firstly, Hardik Pandya is a great all-rounder. Not many players in the world have his skill set,” Gill said. “He can bowl with the new ball and the old ball. We have had multiple conversations. He is unfortunate with his injuries. He hasn’t played since the IPL. Hopefully, he will come back soon. He will play some domestic cricket. And hopefully we will get him back in the Indian team soon.”
Pandya has not played competitive cricket since the IPL, and has been rehabilitating at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru after a chain of setbacks. He missed matches for Mumbai Indians during IPL 2026 with back spasms, then suffered a quadriceps strain at the Centre of Excellence, and later a right shin injury that ruled him out of India A’s one-day series against Australia A in September after scans and a mandated period of rest. He also missed India’s T20I series against New Zealand.
Gill’s message is that the team will not rush him back on reputation. The domestic calendar offers two immediate proving grounds: the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, running from November 14 to December 6, and the Vijay Hazare Trophy, from December 14 to January 8. The latter, as a 50-over tournament, is the more direct test of whether Pandya can bowl a full ODI quota — the benchmark India have already applied to him.
The stakes for India are clear. With the ODI World Cup less than a year away, Gill has repeatedly pointed to the balance a fit fast-bowling all-rounder brings. “Whenever Hardik bhai comes back, No. 7-8 will also be taken care of,” he said, referring to the lower-middle-order batting and the bowling depth Pandya provides across phases — new ball, middle overs and death.
For now, though, India must manage without him. Gill leads the side for the first three ODIs of the five-match series against New Zealand, which runs from November 4 to November 15, before leaving to prepare for the two-Test series starting November 19. Pandya’s return, whenever it comes, will be earned in domestic cricket first — exactly as his captain has now confirmed in public.
