Suryansh Shedge replaces the injured Hardik Pandya in India A's squad for the Australia A ODIs

Mumbai all-rounder Suryansh Shedge has been added to India A's one-day squad after Hardik Pandya failed to win fitness clearance for the three matches against Australia A in Puducherry

Pandya was named in the 15-man squad on the condition that he came through a fitness assessment, and that clearance has not arrived. He has been left out of the series that begins on Tuesday, with Shedge, 23, called up in his place.

The setback stems from discomfort in Pandya's right leg. A scan taken during a fitness assessment at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on 19 September found "very mild intramedullary oedema, which was consistent with right medial tibial stress syndrome", a shin complaint the all-rounder has carried before.

It extends an absence that has now swallowed India's entire international season since the IPL. Pandya has not played competitive cricket since Mumbai Indians' 2026 campaign ended.

A clearance that never came

When the BCCI named the squad, Pandya's inclusion was the line that carried it. The board made his participation subject to the necessary fitness clearance, framing the three one-dayers as a route back into match cricket rather than a certainty.

That route has closed for now. The Australia A tour takes in two multi-day matches and three one-day games, and Pandya will feature in none of them.

What the scan found

The oedema picked up on the September scan points to a stress reaction in the shin rather than a muscle tear, which is the harder of the two to rush. Reported treatment runs to bisphosphonate therapy, vitamin D supplementation and progressive rehabilitation.

How long that keeps him out is not settled. One account of the medical advice puts the rest period at six to eight weeks; an earlier report said the BCCI medical team had told Pandya to stay away from physical activity for "around 10 to 15 days", with at least three weeks on the sidelines. Neither figure has been confirmed by the board.

Shedge cleared and on his way

Shedge arrived at the squad by the same route Pandya could not complete. "Shedge had gone to the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru for a fitness assessment, and after being cleared by the CoE's medical team, left for Puducherry yesterday," the Times of India reported.

The all-rounder had been managing a minor quadriceps problem that cost him a run of pre-season tournaments and a place in the Rest of India squad.

He is not new to the India setup. Shedge has played three T20Is, picked up on the tours of Ireland, England and Zimbabwe in June and July, and made 147 runs across five matches while bowling 23 overs in this year's Sri Lanka tri-series. In the 2024-25 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy he scored 131 runs at a strike rate of 251.92.

A season lost in pieces

Pandya's year has been a sequence of small injuries rather than one long one. Back spasms troubled him late in the IPL, a quadriceps strain followed, and the shin problem has now surfaced twice.

Between them they have cost him India's tour of England, the home series against West Indies and the white-ball matches against Afghanistan. His last ODI came roughly 18 months ago.

For a player whose value to India rests on bowling four or ten overs as well as batting, time away is costlier than it would be for a specialist. Each return now has to rebuild a bowling load from a standing start.

Gaikwad leads, and the next marker

Ruturaj Gaikwad captains the India A side with Devdutt Padikkal as his deputy, in a squad that also carries Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar and Priyansh Arya. The one-dayers are scheduled for 6, 9 and 11 October.

India's white-ball series against New Zealand is the next marker on Pandya's calendar, and reporting on whether he will be available for it does not agree. One account has him targeting the ODIs in early November; another has already ruled him out of the series.

India A begin the one-day series against Australia A at the Cricket Association Puducherry Siechem Ground on Tuesday.

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