The India National Cricket Team star all-rounder Hardik Pandya could be out of action for a long time as he continues his recovery from a stress injury on the inner side of his shin. Hardik Pandya is currently undergoing rehabilitation at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru.
But the star all-rounder’s return to competitive cricket is still far away. With no clear timeline for him to regain full match fitness, Pandya could make the return to the action with the IPL 2027. Earlier, Sunil Gavaskar said Hardik Pandya is irreplaceable and urged India to build a different combination.
Hardik Pandya set for long injury break, IPL 2027 could be his next big return
According to the BCCI CoE report as claimed by the Jagran News journalist Abhishek Sharma, Hardik Pandya is expected to start jogging in three weeks. After that, the Indian all-rounder’s running workload will be increased gradually over the next eight weeks.
However, completing this process will not automatically make Pandya match-fit. The journalist also claimed that no final deadline has been set for Pandya’s return to action as of now.
Hardik Pandya was already ruled out of India’s New Zealand tour, and his chances of playing the upcoming India matches also look slim. He is unlikely to be ready for the ODI and T20 series against Sri Lanka starting December 13 or the ODI series against Zimbabwe beginning January 3.
Hardik Pandya to miss domestic matches because of recovery
The injury could also force Pandya to miss the white-ball domestic tournaments for Baroda. By the time the star all-rounder is expected to make further progress in his recovery, both the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy will be over, meaning he will miss both tournaments.
Following those matches, India will play a five-match Test series against Australia from January 21 to March 3, but Hardik does not play Test cricket, so he will have to wait for the white-ball games. He will miss these international and domestic matches because of his recovery.
So, the IPL 2027 could become his next major target to make his much-awaited comeback to the action. However, Hardik will first need to complete his rehabilitation and regain full fitness. Amid this, Temba Bavuma sees Sachin Tendulkar in himself after career-best 179.
Hardik Pandya’s Sri Lanka tour also in doubt
If that happens, Hardik Pandya will also miss the home series against Sri Lanka. The all-rounder has already missed a major part of India’s cricketing schedule in 2026, including three home ODIs against Afghanistan, tours of Ireland and England featuring 11 matches (eight T20Is and three ODIs), and the Zimbabwe tour comprising five T20Is.
The Indian all-rounder has also missed three T20Is against Afghanistan in New Delhi, the home white-ball series against West Indies (three ODIs and five T20Is), the 2026 Asian Games and a historic one-off T20I against Japan.
Pandya last played competitive cricket for Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2026 season in May. His last India appearance came in the final of the 2026 T20 World Cup in March.
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