With less than three wickets before the start of their Australia tour next month, India are sweating over the fitness of star allrounder Hardik Pandya who picked up an injury during their triumphant campaign at the Asia Cup 2025 in the UAE. Pandya hurt his left quadriceps during the T20 tournament which also ruled him out from the title clash against Pakistan on September 28 in Dubai.
India are slated to play three ODIs and five T20Is in Australia from October 19 to November 8. According to Dainik Jagran, Pandya has been advised rest for a period of four weeks which effectively rules him out from the ODI leg of the tour.
However, there’s hope of Pandya playing some role in the five-match T20I series that starts from October 29 provided he gets
fit on time.
Pandya Key To India’s Unbeaten Run
Pandya must have been disappointed at having missed out the finale of the Asia Cup 2025 which India won in thrilling fashion. Chasing 147, India lost their three top-order batters inside the Powerplay before Tilak Varma led the recovery with an innings for the ages to thwart the charged-up Pakistani pacers. Varma hit an unbeaten half-century as India chased down the target in the last over for a five-wicket win.
India thus finished the tournament with a 100 per cent record by winning all their seven matches including three against arch-rivals Pakistan. And Pandya was key to this run as he not only shared the new ball with pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah but also scored crucial runs in the middle order.
The three-match ODI series could see the return of two India stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The duo has been out of action since the IPL 2025 having retired from both Tests and T20Is. There are speculations over their international future with reports claiming that the Australia tour could very well be the last such series of their respective careers.
