The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently did not include Hardik Pandya in the T20 team for the tour of Ireland and England. Keeping in view the ODI World Cup to be held next year, there is a plan to play Hardik more in this format. He has been included in Team India for the ODI series against Afghanistan starting from June 13. However, there was doubt about his playing in this series, because he was not completely fit. Now a big update on his fitness has come out.

According to the report of news agency PTI, Hardik has achieved full fitness. The Sports Science team of BCCI’s Center of Excellence (CoE) has approved him to play in the ODI series against Afghanistan. 32-year-old Hardik missed several IPL 2026 matches for Mumbai Indians due to back spasms and has been in CoE since June 2.

Hardik has returned from holidays abroad

A BCCI source told PTI, ‘Before coming to the CoE on June 2, Hardik was holidaying abroad. In the next 5 days, he prepared in many match-like situations and also bowled up to 10 overs (full quota). The source further said, ‘He did not face any problem and as per the information, the strength and conditioning coach at CoE has cleared his fitness on various parameters.’

Recently, Indian team’s assistant coach Sitanshu Kotak had said that even though he does not have any latest information about Hardik’s fitness, he feels that the all-rounder is fine. Hardik is an important player for India’s white ball teams as he provides balance to the team with his fast bowling and aggressive batting in the death overs. The best part is that Hardik has been bowling 10 overs in the training sessions, which means he is ready for the challenges of ODI cricket. However, it is not clear whether Hardik will join the team for the training session to be held under floodlights in Chandigarh or will reach Dharamshala directly.

Rohit’s fitness is under investigation

Veteran batsman Rohit Sharma is yet to prove his fitness to enter the series against Afghanistan. Former captain Rohit is also getting himself examined for a strain in his leg muscles at the CoE. Due to this problem he could not play many matches in IPL.