Reports | 'Unfit' Hardik Pandya unlikely to feature in New Zealand Tests

Hardik Pandya has been away from the international scene for quite a while now as he was recovering from back surgery. But it is taking longer than expected for him to regain full fitness as he could not be available for the selection of India's limited-overs squad against New Zealand. Now, even the hopes of making a comeback in the Test squad looks unlikely as he has not completely recovered and is still training at the NCA.

Pandya was picked for India A squad for the games in New Zealand but was later withdrawn as he could not regain full fitness in time. BCCI President Sourav Ganguly stressed on the importance of fitness as a parameter in the selection and believed that unless a player is fully fit, he cannot be in contention.

"Hardik is not fit. He is undergoing training at NCA to get back to full fitness. There is no question of him playing even domestic games at the moment," Ganguly told TOI. 

The new goal for Hardik Pandya now will be to get fit for the three-match ODI series versus South Africa at home to be played in March. With the T20 World Cup to be held in October, Pandya will be crucial to India's chances because of the kind of balance that he brings to the team. Thus, he needs to get adequate playing time and needs to come back in form.