India vs New Zealand | Hardik Pandya Out of Test Series, Yet to Recover from Back Injury

Hardik Pandya has been ruled out of India’s upcoming Test series in New Zealand after failing to recover completely from a back injury.

The BCCI stated on Saturday that Pandya had travelled to London along with NCA Head Physio Ashish Kaushik for a review by spinal surgeon James Allibone, after which the decision was taken. Pandya will be under rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy till he regains fitness.

Pandya will now aim to be fit for India’s three-ODI home series against South Africa in March, just before the IPL.



Both Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah had earlier hired the services of Delhi Capitals trainer Rajnikanth Sivagnanam to undergo rehab post their injuries. The duo had refused to head to the NCA and while Yogesh Parmar kept an eye on Pandya’s progress post his back surgery, Nitin Patel studied every process that Bumrah followed during his rehab after the stress fracture the pacer had suffered on his back.

But the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly made it clear that all players must report to the NCA to undergo rehab.

“I met Dravid yesterday, and we have put a system in place. The bowlers will have to go to the NCA. If anybody (else) has to treat them, they will have to come to NCA,” Ganguly had said.

“Whatever may be the reason, we will accommodate everything. We will also make sure the players are comfortable and they don”t feel left out or out of place. So, we will do it that way.

“We are going full throttle with the NCA. Construction work will start (at the new land) and it will be a state-of-the-art unit. In 18 months’ time, if we are still there, you will see an NCA that will be spick and span.”

Pandya has been out of action since playing the T20I series against South Africa in September last year. He underwent a back surgery the following month.

Pandya was set to return to competitive cricket with the A team’s tour of New Zealand, but was withdrawn later as he didn’t recover in time.