Hardik Pandya Reportedly Out of New Zealand Tour With Shin Injury

Hardik Pandya has been ruled out of India's white-ball tour of New Zealand with a shin injury, according to a PTI report quoting a BCCI source. The board hasn't put out a statement of its own, and no replacement has been named.

The source said his latest scans showed an injury to his right shin and that he has been told to rest completely for two weeks. The same source put his time out of competitive cricket at three weeks at least.

The tour runs from 22 October to 1 December, with five T20Is, five ODIs and two Tests. The first T20I is in Christchurch on 22 October and the ODIs begin in Auckland on 4 November. Pandya plays only white-ball cricket for India, so the Tests aren't affected. Three weeks from now is 17 October, five days before the first T20I, which leaves little room to build up match fitness. Some outlets have been more cautious than PTI, calling him doubtful rather than out.

It isn't his first fitness scare this year. Reports before the Afghanistan T20I series in September mentioned pain around his knee during fielding drills. He was also named in the India A one-day squad for the Australia A series on 6, 9 and 11 October in Puducherry, subject to fitness, and reports say he will miss those games too.

India haven't announced a squad for New Zealand yet. Until the BCCI issues its own statement or names the squad, this is a report from a single source.