Hardik Pandya suffered a niggle just before he was to join Indian team for Afghanistan ODIs.
Pandya had been cleared by the BCCI CoE medical team, as he had been under surveillance for back issues that made him miss four games for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2026. Pandya recovered and recuperated at the CoE and was given fitness clearance for the ODI series.
However, just before he was to join the Indian team, Pandya picked up a significant niggle just before joining camp, forcing India to look at alternative options.
"You plan; you look at your options like we do in batting and bowling. Same as with the all-rounders. Unfortunately, Hardik is missing this series. He picked up a niggle, quite a niggle, very close to joining camp," Morkel said in the press conference.
He also emphasized the potential it presents for Nitish Kumar Reddy, who, in his opinion, has been playing well lately. As India continues to develop for next assignments, Morkel continued, these circumstances enable the team management to test depth and assess up-and-coming players.
"But again, it's another opportunity now for Nitish Kumar Reddy. He's been playing beautifully in the last two years," said Morkel when asked how India is planning for life beyond Hardik.
After making a few technical changes, Reddy has accelerated. In the most recent IPL, he was similarly effective with the bat and took important wickets for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Morkel commended Nitish's development work, citing particular technical changes that have improved the young all-rounder's balance at the crease. Morkel noted that he has made noticeable development in all areas and that the emphasis has been on improving his batting mechanics and guaranteeing improved movement control.
"When the players get the opportunity to work and develop their own game, look at areas where they can improve. And Nitish did that. It was from a technical point of view to get him a little bit better at the crease, more balanced, so the energy flows down the wicket.
In both departments, there's improvement. So, yeah, we're excited for him to get an opportunity and see how he puts that together on an international stage. And, yeah, it's always nice to have that extra helping hand,” he added.
Nitish Reddy has played 10 Tests, 4 ODIs, and 4 T20Is for India thus far. He has one Test century and one fifty each in ODIs and T20Is. He has 8 Test wickets and 3 T20I wickets to his name.
(ANI inputs)