Hardik Pandya suffers fresh shin injury, out of New Zealand series

Hardik Pandya has suffered a fresh injury to his right shin and is set to miss the New Zealand white-ball series. The all-rounder has been advised complete rest for two weeks before his rehabilitation can begin.

New Delhi: Senior all-rounder Hardik Pandya has sustained a fresh injury to his right shin, which is all set to rule him out of competitive cricket for at least three weeks, including the white-ball tour of New Zealand.

Pandya’s ‘Return To Play’ date was set for September 20 and, accordingly, the selectors picked him for India A for the upcoming One Day series against Australia A starting October 6.

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“This is very unfortunate, but Hardik’s latest scan reports have revealed an injury to his right shin. He has been advised complete rest for a period of two weeks. BCCI’s medical panel head Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala has seen his reports and, on his return from Japan, will assess him and decide when he can start his rehabilitation,” a BCCI source tracking COE developments told PTI on condition of anonymity.

The New Zealand T20I series starts on October 22, followed by the ODI series. There is no chance of Hardik making a comeback by then.

It is understood that BCCI wanted Pandya to travel with the squad to Japan for the Asian Games and BCCI’s operations team had taken his passport for visa-related work.

However, just before the start of the Afghanistan T20 series, he suddenly developed a shooting pain around his knee while doing his fielding drills. He, in fact, took a break and decided to take a few days’ rest. However, just as he was ready to get a fitness certificate, the pain resurfaced and scans revealed that there was an injury.

The 32-year-old Pandya is based out of Bengaluru since the end of the IPL and now trains at the Centre of Excellence, having relocated to the Garden City.

But over the course of the last four months, at least thrice (Afghanistan ODIs, England T20Is and now Australia A), the all-rounder has suffered a fresh niggle, which has proved to be an impediment to his comeback.

With the New Zealand series also out of his way, Pandya will now have to wait for the Zimbabwe ODIs if he is fit to play, or perhaps check his fitness in the Vijay Hazare or Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.