It is no surprise that the Indian cricket team players are enduring fatigue and injuries following the over-two-month-long IPL 2026 season.
Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been given a complete rest of almost a month-and-half and is expected to return to action on July 14 with the ODI series against England.
Mohammed Siraj, who featured in the one-off Test against Afghanistan, has been rested after the medical team’s advice from the T20I tours of Ireland and England, with Prasidh Krishna replacing him. Siraj is also expected to return with the ODI series against England next month.
Virat Kohli has already been ruled out of the IND vs AFG ODI series, starting June 13, due to a hamstring injury that he sustained during the IPL final.
IND vs AFG: Hardik Pandya Ruled Out Of Afghanistan ODIs, BCCI to Name A Replacement Soon
Senior all-rounder Hardik Pandya has taken the brunt of the workload and has been ruled out of the upcoming rubber against Afghanistan.
Pandya is learned to have sustained a quadriceps injury while undergoing rehabilitation for back spasms at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru. The BCCI is expected to announce Pandya’s replacement soon, although India already has Nitish Kumar Reddy in the ODI squad.
“It has been learnt that Pandya informed the CoE medical team of some discomfort on Tuesday and was immediately referred to a local clinic in Bengaluru, where scans revealed a quadriceps strain that will require at least a couple of weeks to heal,” said a report in Cricbuzz.
The MI captain will continue his rehab at the CoE in Bengaluru in a bid to be fit for the three-ODI series in England that commences on July 14.
Hardik had missed four games in the IPL due to the back issue. With the selectors now planning for the 2027 World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, Hardik won’t be seen much in T20Is.
“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. 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,” Ajit Agarkar, the chief selector, said last week.
Rohit Sharma was also with Pandya at the CoE as he dealt with a hamstring injury that had forced him to miss some games in the IPL, but Rohit has reportedly cleared the fitness tests and will feature in the ODI series against Afghanistan.
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