Why did Hardik Pandya miss IND vs AFG 1st ODI in Dharamsala?
(Courtesy : BCCI)
Hardik Pandya was recently seen in action during the IPL 2026.
India are clashing with Afghanistan in the first of the three ODIs today. The matches will be played on 13th, 17th and 20th June in Dharamshala, Lucknow and Chennai, respectively.
The series will begin preparations for Shubman Gill and Co. for the forthcoming ICC ODI World Cup 2027. Gurnoor Brar, Prince Yadav and Harsh Dubey received their maiden ODI call-ups for the series.
Some of the key players not included in the team were Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Jasprit Bumrah. While Jadeja has been recovering from injury, Bumrah has been rested due to workload management.
Injury woes have mounted for India, as Virat Kohli has been ruled out of the series; Yashasvi Jaiswal replaced him. Hardik Pandya also missed the IND vs AFG 1st ODI at Dharamshala.
Why is Hardik Pandya not playing first IND vs AFG ODI?
Hardik Pandya last featured in the recently concluded Indian Premier League 2026. He captained Mumbai Indians (MI) and scored 206 runs, picking 4 wickets. This was a relatively underwhelming season for his standards.
Pandya was battling back spasms during the IPL, which caused him to miss a few matches. However, after receiving fitness clearance at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE), he sustained a quadriceps injury and was advised six weeks of rest, ruling him out of the IND vs AFG ODI series.
With Nitish Kumar Reddy already part of the squad, the BCCI have not announced any replacement for him. Hardik remains a key part of the team for the Cricket World Cup 2027, but his fitness concerns have sparked the need to prepare backups like Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana.
“He is a part of the one-day squad right now for the Afghanistan series. Like Jasprit Bumrah, if we can get him playing well and keep him fit for one-day cricket – he hasn’t played much ODI cricket for a while – that is the main objective,” chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar had said last week.
“We can always bring him back. So there will be a little bit of rest and rotation with regard to T20 cricket in Pandya’s case.”
The pace-bowling all-rounder is also not a part of India’s squad for the Ireland and England T20I series.
Will Hardik Pandya play the ODI series against Afghanistan?
No, Hardik Pandya has sustained a quadriceps injury and will miss the ODI series against Afghanistan.
Who is India’s captain in ODIs?
Shubman Gill leads the Men in Blue in the ODI format.
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Cricket runs in the blood of Indians — and that’s something she truly believes in. A law student with a lifelong connection to the game, she has followed cricket passionately since his school days. Like countless young fans, she first experienced the sport on the field before deepening his understanding through constant watching, reading, and conversations around the game. Writing became a natural extension of that passion, bringing a “Pavilion Perspective” to his work — capturing how fans experience matches through their own lens.