Hardik Pandya's India comeback done, to join team in..

Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who has been ruled out of action since the Asia Cup final, is currently recovering at the BCCI Centre of Excellence and has set his return date before the white-ball series against South Africa.

India is currently playing in Australia, where they are yet to play four more T20I matches before they return to India for the multi-format series against South Africa. The series will comprise a two-match Test series from the 14th of November.

The red-ball series will be followed by a three-match ODI series starting on the 30th of November, and then lastly the T20I series, which will also comprise 5 matches. The series will be crucial from India's point of view as it marks the return of several players.

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Hardik Pandya's comeback assured before the South Africa series

Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya was ruled out ahead of the Asia Cup final after he suffered a quadriceps injury and missed the final against archrivals Pakistan. The Indian all-rounder reported at the BCCI Centre of Excellence on the 21st of October after a brief holiday following the termination of the Asia Cup.

Hardik Pandya, who was spotted during the net session, has set a return date. He is likely to make a comeback ahead of the white-ball series against South Africa. The series, as mentioned above, starts on the 30th with ODIs followed by T20Is.

As reported, Hardik, who reported on the 21st of October, would be there for a month and has already resumed gym sessions and should be back to bowling anytime soon. Pandya missed the Australia tour due to this injury.

Shreyas Iyer is out of the South Africa home series

While India relishes the return of Rishabh Pant and now probably Hardik Pandya, in the South Africa series, they have suffered another blow in the form of Shreyas Iyer being ruled out of the tour.

Iyer suffered a freak injury during the final ODI of the Australia tour, which led to a life-threatening spleen laceration injury. He was operated on at the Sydney hospital and is likely to be discharged within the next 3-4 days.

However, the injury rules him out of the South Africa ODIs, and this would instead set a chance for players like Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, or even Sanju Samson to make a strong comeback into the ODI side in the absence of a middle-order batsman.

Will Nitish Kumar Reddy return for the end of the South Africa tour?

Nitish Kumar Reddy, the all-rounder who was picked as Hardik Pandya's substitute in the Australia tour, was also ruled out of the final ODI, which initially seemed precautionary. However, later it was confirmed that Nitish Kumar Reddy has been ruled out of the first three matches of the T20I series.

Nitish's return for the final two games is yet to be confirmed, while the South Africa tour also remains under major doubt. While Shreyas has been reported to resume training within the next 4-6 weeks, nothing such has been reported for the all-rounder.

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