“Don’t want to push him..”, Gautam Gambhir drops big statement on Hardik Pandya

Kolkata : Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir doesn’t “want to push” Hardik Pandya back into international cricket until he has proven his match fitness, but with Nitish Kumar Reddy around and in good wicket-taking form, the India head coach is happy he has a competent back-up to turn to.

Hardik was named in the India A side for the one-day matches against Australia A as he returns to action for the first time since IPL 2026, where he also missed four games. Reddy, originally named in India’s Asian Games (T20I) squad, has been shifted to the ODI side against West Indies instead. The switch came on Wednesday. On Thursday, Reddy finished the T20I series against Afghanistan as the highest wicket-taker across the two sides after returning 3 for 25.

“From Nitish’s point of view, it’s actually a great thing that he’s been withdrawn from the T20 format and he’ll get game time against West Indies,” Gambhir said, speaking after India’s 3-0 win in the T20I series against Afghanistan, in which Reddy took six wickets at an average of 13.16 and an economy rate of 8.77 (mainly due to his none for 30 from two overs in the first game).

“We know how important seam-bowling allrounders will be in a year’s time when we go to South Africa, and the more the merrier. And once Hardik comes back, obviously, it’s going to be good. Sometimes we could even go on to play both of them in the playing XI.

“But again, Hardik, at the moment, if he cannot bowl ten overs and he hasn’t played a lot of cricket since the IPL, we don’t want to push him into international cricket, because international cricket can be extremely tough on your body as well.

“So if he plays that India A series, he’ll get some game time as well. And that was the clear message to him: 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.”

Over the next month-and-a-half, three India teams, two India A teams, and a Rest of India team will be in action, which the India selectors finalised on September 16. It’s an unusually busy period by even India’s standards, and when asked about it, Gambhir admitted it was “not ideal when you’re preparing for a [ODI] World Cup, which is in a year’s time”.

Multiple India squads – Gambhir looks at the bright side

A largely first-choice T20I side has been picked for India’s one-off game against Japan, on September 22, which will also take part in the Asian Games. As a result, the selectors have had to name a somewhat depleted squad for the ODIs against West Indies, which will be played at the same time.

“The Asian Games squad was selected long back, and sometimes, it’s difficult for the selectors when they have to put the best squad in place,” Gambhir said. “But again, it gives other people the opportunity as well [in the ODI side]. In a series like this, you’ve got young guys like Naman Dhir and Auqib Nabi… So they can also show what they bring in the white-ball format. And obviously, the bigger the pool, the better it is for us.

“Normally, when you have all the players available, sometimes players might not get that opportunity. But now with people like Rutu [Ruturaj Gaikwad], Nabi and Naman, these guys will get that opportunity.”

Middle-order batter Dhir and fast bowler Nabi have received their maiden ODI call-ups for the West Indies series – Dhir was picked for the Australia A one-dayers before being moved to the ODI squad.

Gambhir: ‘Not fair on Gill’ to not have the best players available

Hardik’s ongoing recovery from back spasms and a leg strain is among a slate of niggles for India’s first-choice players since the start of the year. Harshit Rana was ruled out of the Afghanistan T20Is as he recovers from a hamstring injury. Washington Sundar, though in the squad for the same series, did not feature in the XI as he returned from a hamstring injury as well.

Jasprit Bumrah made his own comeback after a left-knee injury, while Varun Chakravarthy was ruled out after the first T20I – and has been removed from the Asian Games squad – because of a side strain.

“If I can be completely honest, then yes [it is inconvenient],” Gambhir said. “Because especially in Test cricket and one-day cricket, you want your best players to play as much as they can in Test cricket and one-day cricket, with the World Cup [coming up].

“And more importantly, it’s not fair on a young captain [Shubman Gill] as well, if he doesn’t get the best team playing consistently and regularly. As a coach, I can take all the criticism, but I think it is important for Shubman to get the best playing XI as many times as he can in red-ball and in white-ball formats.”

VVS Laxman has been appointed India’s head coach for the Asian Games, with Gambhir staying with the ODI side for their three-match series against West Indies from September 27 to October 3, followed by the five T20Is against the same opponents, starting from October 6.