Hardik Pandya Joins India Squad Early for South Africa T20Is, Skips Baroda’s Final SMAT Match

India’s top white-ball all-rounder Hardik Pandya has finished his domestic warm-up matches and is ready to join the Indian team in Cuttack on December 6, when the full squad gathers for the five-match T20I series against South Africa. After getting the go-ahead from the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence, Hardik played two Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy games for Baroda, one against Punjab on December 2 and another against Gujarat on December 4.

As reported earlier by TimesofIndia.com, he was supposed to play a third match on December 6 against Haryana, but those plans have now changed. Instead, he will join Suryakumar Yadav’s squad on the same day.

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Hardik Pandya All-rounder

Hardik Pandya, an Indian cricketer, is known for his aggressive batting and fielding skills.

Hardik Pandya to Miss Baroda’s Third SMAT Match as He Joins India Squad Early

Some players may reach Cuttack a day earlier, on December 5, and Hardik might also travel early. His final travel schedule is still being worked out. After staying away from cricket due to his quadricep injury, Pandya had decent outings in the two fixtures with both bat and ball.

The first game was an ordinary outing with the ball as he picked just one wicket and leaked 52 runs in four overs vs Punjab but was on fire with the bat.

The right-hander smashed 77 off 42 balls, including four sixes, to help his side chase down 223 with five deliveries to spare. In his last SMAT match against Gujarat, Hardik bowled tightly, finishing with figures of 1 for 16. With the bat, he didn’t get much of a role in the small chase of 74 runs and managed 10 runs off six balls before the job was completed.

India squad for T20I series against SA: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC)*, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar

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by Dwijesh December 3, 2025