Gautam Gambhir is in no mood to gamble with Hardik Pandya.
India’s head coach, speaking after the third T20I win over Afghanistan, drew a hard line between sentiment and selection as the build-up to the 2027 ODI World Cup enters its final year. The message was blunt: India want Hardik, but they want him fully ready, not half-fit and patched together.
Hardik on hold, by design
Hardik has not played international cricket since the T20 World Cup final in March. His body, repeatedly pushed to the edge by injuries, still isn’t ready for the demands of a full 10-over spell in ODIs. Gambhir laid it out without sugar-coating.
“Hardik at the moment, yes, he cannot bowl 10 overs and he hasn't played a lot of cricket since the IPL. So we don't want to push him into international cricket because international cricket can be extremely tough on your body as well,” he said.
The immediate plan runs through India A, not straight back into the senior dressing room. Hardik has been picked for the India A series against Australia A, and that is where the comeback is expected to take shape.
“So if he plays that India A series, obviously he'll get some game time as well. And that was the clear message to him that if he can play that 'A' series and then if everything goes well, he can come back and be part of the T20s and the One Day squad as well.”
This is not a soft landing. It is a stress test. If he emerges with overs in his legs and rhythm in his bowling, he walks back into India’s white-ball core. If not, Gambhir won’t force it just because the World Cup clock is ticking.
Nitish Reddy steps into the frame
Hardik’s delayed return has already shaped another career. Nitish Reddy, fresh from an injury layoff of his own, has been pushed straight into the seam-bowling all-rounder conversation.
He responded with six wickets across the T20I series against Afghanistan, a quietly significant haul for a player being groomed for a much bigger role. India even pulled him out of the Asian Games squad to give him a proper run in ODI cricket.
“From Nitish's point of view, it's actually a great thing that he's been withdrawn from a T20 format and he'll get game time against West Indies as well,” Gambhir said. “We know how important seam bowling all-rounders will be probably in a year's time when we go to South Africa and once Hardik comes back, obviously he's going to be good. Sometimes we could even go on to play both of them in the playing 11.”
That last line matters. This is not Nitish as a stopgap. It is Nitish as a long-term partner, someone who could share the load with Hardik in conditions where two seam-bowling all-rounders might tilt a World Cup game.
Gambhir has seen enough in a short series to double down on the investment.
“It's been a huge plus for us because we want to expose him to most of the international game because we know how important he is, whether it's in 50-over format or going forward in T20s as well because, you know, there are not many going around guys who can bowl and who can bat at the middle order. So it's a massive positive that the way he's bowled in this series.”
The plan is clear: get Nitish’s body and game tuned to 50-over demands now, not in a panic six months before a World Cup.
A World Cup push with a split squad
For all that planning, India’s next ODI assignment will not feature their strongest available side. The one-day series against West Indies collides with the Asian Games, and several first-choice ODI players will be in Japan instead.
Gambhir did not pretend this was anything but awkward.
“Look, it's not ideal. Obviously, we know that it's not ideal when we are preparing for a World Cup, which is in years' time. But again, the Asian Games squad was selected long back,” he said.
The concern goes beyond one series. It touches the development of Shubman Gill as a leader in both formats.
“You want your best players to play as much as possible because the next World Cup is a 50-over World Cup. And more importantly, it's not fair on a young captain as well if he doesn't get the best team, playing consistently and regularly and not being on the path consistently.
“That's why I have to be dead honest. I think it is important for Shubman [Gill] to get the best team as many times as he can in red ball and in white ball formats as well.”
The selectors, caught between a continental multi-sport event and a looming World Cup cycle, have had to split resources. Gambhir understands the bind but doesn’t hide the cost.
“Sometimes it's difficult for the selectors when they have to put the best squad in place. So, we always knew that if the best team goes to the best, the front-line players go to the Asian Games.
“Obviously, we will have to probably compromise a bit in this one-day series against West Indies.”
Opportunity in compromise
That compromise, though, opens a different kind of door. With senior players away, the West Indies series becomes a live audition.
“But again, it gives other people the opportunity as well. And obviously, in a series like this, we've got young guys like Naman Dhir, Auqib [Nabi], getting those opportunities in this squad. So, they can also show what they bring in white ball format.”
This is how World Cup squads often take shape: not just through big names returning from injury, but through fringe players grabbing a thin window and refusing to let it close.
Hardik Pandya’s path runs through India A. Nitish Reddy’s path runs through West Indies. Naman Dhir and Auqib Nabi now get their own lane.
Twelve months from a World Cup in Africa, Gambhir is juggling fitness, fixtures, and futures. The question is no longer whether India will have options. It is which of these all-rounders will still be standing when the plane to South Africa takes off.
