Hardik Pandya included for India A as BCCI reveals squads vs Australia A — Here's what it means

The premier all-rounder, Hardik Pandya, has been included in the India A squad that will play three unofficial ODIs against Australia A in Puducherry, subject to fitness clearance. The veteran hasn’t been in action since the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 as he has been spending a long time at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru.   

Hardik, who is anticipated to be a vital member for the blue brigade in the ODI World Cup 2027 in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia, hasn’t played the 50-over format since the Champions Trophy 2025 in March and has been rested from the format in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup 2026 at home.

India A full squad vs Australia A: Who's in, Who's out alongside Hardik Pandya

Devdutt Padikkal will lead the India A side for the four-day games, with Sai Sudharsan being his deputy. Those encounters will be clashing with the Irani Cup, scheduled to be played from October 1 to 05, and the Asian Games, running from September 24 to October 03. The squad has been missing several vital names.

Seamer Anshul Kamboj, off-spinner Tanush Kotian, and the wicket-keeper, Narayan Jagadeesan, are the only members of the 15 from the recent squads. Kumar Kushagra, fresh from the century in the Duleep Trophy 2026 final, has also been included. 

The one-day squad has Ruturaj Gaikwad as captain, while Padikkal serves as vice-captain. Priyansh Arya, Sudharsan, the wicket-keeper-batter Prabhsimran Singh, Rajat Patidar, and Yash Thakur are part of the side.

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India A squads for series against Australia A-

Four-day squad- Aman Mokhade, Ayush Pandey, Devdutt Padikkal (captain), Sai Sudharsan (vice-captain), Yash Rathod, Shaik Rasheed, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Tushar Deshpande, Anshul Kamboj, Praful Hinge, N Jagadeesan (wk), Nachiket Bhute, V Vyshak (subject to fitness clearance).

One-day squad: Priyansh Arya, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Rajat Patidar, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Nishant Sindhu, Vipraj Nigam, Arshin Kulkarni, Arshad Khan, Naman Dhir, Hardik Pandya (subject to fitness clearance), Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Gurjapneet Singh, Yash Thakur.

India A vs Australia A schedule — Dates, venues, and when Hardik Pandya returns to action

The opening game of the four-day series will be played from September 22 to 25, while the focus for the second unofficial Test will run between October 02 and 05. All the games will take place in Puducherry. The three one-day games will be played at the same venue on October 06, 09, and 11.

India’s next ODI series will be against West Indies, beginning on September 27 at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, while the second and third games will be on September 30 in Guwahati and October 03 in Mullanpur.

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Their next Test series will be against New Zealand. The first red-ball clash will be on November 19 at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, while the second game will be on November 27 at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.