Hardik Pandya ruled out of England ODIs, Virat Kohli to undergo fitness test

Star allrounder Hardik Pandya has been ruled out of India's three-match ODI series in July due to a quadriceps injury, while superstar batter Virat Kohli is likely to be picked for the series under a ‘subject to fitness’ clause and will undergo a fitness test at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on June 22, TOI has learnt.

The team for the ODI series in England, set to be held from July 14-19, will be picked soon.

The three ODIs are scheduled to be played on July 14 in Birmingham, July 16 at Cardiff and July 19 at Lord's.

“The team will be picked in 3-4 days,” BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia had told this paper a couple of days back.

“Hardik has not been able to attain the requisite amount of bowling volume & conditioning required for an ODI format and will require more time to regain complete fitness for an ODI,” a source in the BCCI told TOI on Saturday.

“Kohli is progressing well following his right hamstring injury in IPL-2026, while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore. He was assessed by the CoE team in London and handed over the program to continue in the initial phase of rehab. He will report to the CoE on June 22 for further re-evaluation & clearance, “ the source revealed.

Hardik had missed the ongoing home ODI series against Afghanistan due to the quadriceps injury.

The 32-year-old allrounder had been training at CoE since June 2, and is now undergoing rehabilitation there after suffering a quadriceps injury.

Hardik is a key part of Team India's plans for the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

In order to enable him to stay fit and fresh for the ODIs, the selectors had left him out of the T20I squad, but the Mumbai Indians captain will now have to wait for some time before making his return to the format for the first time since the 2025 Champions Trophy final in Dubai on March 8.

The 37-year-old Kohli had to miss the ongoing ODI series at home against Afghanistan due to a hamstring injury, with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal replacing him.

The superstar bat has been tele-consulting famous orthopedic surgeon Dr Dinshaw Pardiwalla, who is based at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai, and is the consultant orthopaedic surgeon for the BCCI.

Kohli had picked up the hamstring injury during his unbeaten 75-run knock off 42 balls in the IPL final, which helped RCB chase down 156 against Gujarat Titans and lift them to their second consecutive IPL title.