Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has said Tilak Varma could replace all-rounder Hardik Pandya at No.6 in the Indian ODI team if the latter fails to prove fit for the ICC ODI World Cup 2027 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Notably, Hardik has been dealing with constant fitness concerns, and he hasn’t played any professional cricket since the conclusion of the IPL 2026 season. While he was expected to return for the India A One-Day series against Australia A, a fresh shin injury has ruled out his comeback.
Speaking to Star Sports, Ganguly stressed Hardik’s importance in the current Indian ODI setup. Unfortunately, Hardik was also ruled out of the ODI World Cup 2023 at home midway through after sustaining an ankle injury in the group stage.
“Nitish Kumar Reddy can be a straight swap, but I am not sure if he’s a new-ball bowler. Axar has to be at No.8, followed by the three pacers. So if you don’t have Hardik, then you play a genuine batter at No.6. Maybe Tilak Varma is an option, being a left-hander. He played well in South Africa in the T20Is a year and a half ago,” Ganguly said.
“So if Hardik is injured, they have to play a pure batter at No.6 and a seam-bowling all-rounder at No.7, maybe Nitish as the second option to Hardik. Jadeja is a terrific batter at No.7, but he hasn’t played much lately in ODIs. Also, in South Africa, you’ll need a seaming all-rounder. None of the batters in the top five bowl, so you’ll have to get that fifth or sixth bowling option from somewhere. That’s why Hardik is very important,” he added.
Speaking about Hardik’s ODI career, he has played 94 games, amassing 1904 runs at an average of 32.83 and scalped 91 wickets with the best figures of 4/24.
