Hardik Pandya hasn’t played for India since the T20 World Cup final in March 2026. With less than a year to go for the ODI World Cup, the all-rounder is racing against time to get fit for the showpiece event in South Africa.
Speaking on Wisden’s The Scoop, senior journalist and broadcaster Gaurav Kalra addressed the issues India have been facing due to Pandya's recurring injuries. He highlighted the all-rounder’s importance to the team, especially in the ODI format, where his role is to bowl 10 overs of pace and play a finisher’s role with the bat, while also lending the team some much-needed balance.
“It's a massive hole,” Kalra said. “I mean, India's trying various ways to fill it, the hole is massive. And I think their bigger concern will be: can they actually get him ready for one-day cricket? Just look at him… his last T20 game was the T20 World Cup final. His last one-day game was the Champions Trophy final.
“They want to get him ready for that one-day format because then that gives them balance in the squad. He’s a guy who can bat at seven and eight, have that enforcer role at the bottom of the innings, which is very important in South Africa, and a guy who's going to be able to bowl ten overs for you in a one-day game.”
Hardik Pandya is key for India’s success in white-ball cricket
Pandya's importance to the team can be outlined by the fact that more often than not, India finish on the right side of the result when he plays and struggle when he doesn’t.
Since June 30, 2024, India have won all eight ODIs with Hardik in the XI. Whereas without him, they have won only 10 out of 21 ODIs. Similarly in T20Is, after the 2024 T20 World Cup, India have won 32 out of their 38 matches with him and only 19 in 34 without him (including the series-opening win against New Zealand).
Notably, India have won their last three ICC trophies, the Champions Trophy in 2025 and the T20 World Cups in 2024 and 2026, with Hardik part of the line-up. They fell in the final of the ODI World Cup in 2023 after Hardik picked up a tournament-ending injury in the group stage.
Hardik Pandya hasn’t played for India since the 2026 T20 World Cup final in March, and his last ODI appearance came all the way back in March 2025 🇮🇳 With the 2027 World Cup in South Africa less than a year away now, how should India replace the all-rounder if his injury issues persist and he’s unavailable for the tournament? 🤔 Watch the latest episode of The Scoop for the full discussion 👉 https://t.co/RJCYl8BA6C #Cricket
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) October 21, 2026
Who takes Pandya's spot if he doesn’t get fit for 2027 ODI World Cup?
India are hoping for the 32-year-old to regain full fitness and get enough match practice under his belt in the lead up to the World Cup. But to address the elephant in the room, what if Pandya is injured and ruled out of the mega event next year? Do they have enough in their arsenal to replace him?
India have tried all of Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube and Suryansh Shedge in his stead. But they are not Hardik. Reddy is probably the favourite to take the spot, but he is also injury-prone and hasn’t made a telling impact in his 17 international white-ball appearances so far.
“So the priority will be to try and get Hardik ready for that because everyone else who's been tried is not Hardik Pandya,” Kalra added. “They are ‘Hardik Pandya-light’. You've got someone like a Nitish Kumar Reddy. They've invested in him, but he's not quite delivered, only played a few games in this T20 format, doesn't seem to have the bowling stocks of a Hardik Pandya or the variation and the pace as well.”
“Dube, I think the impact player rule has really put his bowling on the back burner, and as a result, he barely bowls in the IPL, and as a result, he’s not getting too many opportunities,” he added. “And you look at someone like Suryansh Shedge, who's been brought in, who's done well in A cricket, but again too raw, someone they will want to invest in.”
Dube has only three wickets to show in the six ODIs he has played so far and has never completed his quota of 10 overs. The most he’s bowled in an ODI is 7.5 overs, doing so on his debut in December 2019. He recently featured in two ODIs in July 2026 against England, returning to the format after two years, and bowled only six overs in each game.
His record is better in the shortest format, having picked up 40 wickets in 53 innings in T20Is. But since the World Cup final earlier this year, he didn't bowl in five out of his 16 T20I appearnces, taking nine wickets in them. He completed his quota of four overs only once and was handed only one over in six of those matches.
As for Shedge, the last of his three T20I appearances came in July against Zimbabwe. He is yet to pick up a wicket and has scored only eight runs with the bat. His performances for India A in the recent unofficial ODI series against Australia A have built some hope, however, where he scored a half-century and picked up five wickets, including a four-wicket haul in the series opener.
“But you know, that gold dust player, the seam bowling all-rounder is someone that India desperately need,” Kalra further stated. “Hardik is no spring chicken now. He's thirty-two with that kind of body, getting injured as often, India are really concerned. Because I think the two players that India want back fully firing for that South Africa World Cup, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah.”
Also Read: What's going on with Hardik Pandya? A brief timeline of his recent spate of injuries
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