Hardik Pandya set to play full SMAT 2025 season amid fitness concerns? Coach reveals
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Indian veteran all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been suffering due to injuries throughout his career; this time around, a quadriceps injury during the Asia Cup ruled him out of consecutive series for India. After missing international cricket, Hardik is all set to play for Baroda in domestic cricket.
Hardik Pandya has been out of cricket since he got himself injured during India's final Super-4 stage game in the Asia Cup 2025. He missed the thrilling final clash against Pakistan, the tour to Australia, and now the home series against South Africa as well.
The cricketer has been rehabilitating at the BCCI Centre of Excellence and was reported injured the second time, which could be profusely sending him into a state of further delay. But he has finally revived and is all set to return to action.
Baroda thrilled for Hardik Pandya's first full season in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
Hardik Pandya will return to action with the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the 2025 season. His last participation in the tournament was back in 2024, when Hardik played under the leadership of his brother Krunal Pandya.
The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy begins tomorrow, the 26th of November, as Baroda takes on Bengal in the first group-stage game. For the Baroda State Team, their head coach Mukund Parmar has confirmed that Hardik will be available for most of the group stage games.
🚨 GOOD NEWS FOR BARODA 🚨 [Bharat Sharma from PTI]
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) November 25, 2025
- Baroda Head Coach Mukund Parmar confirms Hardik Pandya will be available for the most of the group stage matches in Syed Mushtaq Ali. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/P4Qh0pk3yy
Baroda Squad for SMAT: Krunal Pandya (c), MG Patel, Mitesh Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Shivalik Sharma, Amit Passi, Safvan Patel, Dhruv Patel, Mahesh Pithiya, Vishnu Solanki, Hardik Pandya, Atit Sheth, Raj Limbani, Rasikh Salam, Chintal Gandhi, Bhanu Pania, Ninad Rathva, Shashwat Rawat, and Lakshit Toksiya
Hardik Pandya missed the South Africa ODIs and is likely to miss the T20Is as well
Hardik will have to prove his fitness in domestic cricket to make his comeback to international cricket in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Reports have claimed that based only on his fitness proof, he will be included in India's T20I squad for the South Africa series.
The T20I series against South Africa begins on the 9th of December, and Hardik might be back in the side, replacing Nitish Kumar Reddy, who, despite being part of the series, could not play in a single T20I fixture.
He has been rested from the ODI assignment against South Africa, as he is yet to make a proper comeback to the white-ball format. Alongside him, Jasprit Bumrah has also once again been rested from the ODI series.
Without Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel, how would India's playing XI look for the ODI series against South Africa?
Axar Patel has been snubbed from the ODI team after continuously featuring across all formats of the game. Hardik Pandya has also been snubbed; hence, the Indian playing XI will be looking very different.
India might bring in Yashasvi Jaiswal as Shubman Gill's replacement, while Tilak Varma or Rishabh Pant might replace injured Shreyas Iyer in the middle order.
Tagged:
India National Cricket Team Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) Hardik Pandya Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy India vs South Africa
