In a series win as emphatic as India’s 3-0 sweep over Afghanistan, there tend to be many bright spots to revel in. But if there was a fresh takeaway from the T20I series, it was arguably Nitish Kumar’s enhanced contribution with the ball. Back from a quadriceps injury, the 23-year-old seam-bowling all-rounder started the series shakily with figures of 2-0-30-0 in his first outing, but bounced back with three scalps each in the next two games.
More than the wickets, which can come arbitrarily in a format where batters are obliged to attack from the outset, the fact that Nitish bowled at brisk pace in different phases was heartening. Particularly in light of the prolonged absence of Hardik Pandya, who has been sidelined with injury since the conclusion of the Indian Premier League. The 32-year-old is expected to return to action when India-A plays three One-Dayers against Australia-A in Puducherry from October 6 to 11.
With India’s next big priority being the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, coach Gautam Gambhir understandably wants both all-rounders to be fit and firing.
“We know how important seam bowling all-rounders will be in a year’s time when we go to South Africa. The more the merrier. And once Hardik comes back, obviously it is going to be good. Sometimes we could even go on to play both of them in the XI,” Gambhir told reporters on Thursday. “At the moment, Hardik cannot bowl 10 overs. He hasn’t played cricket since the IPL. So, we don’t want to push him into international cricket because it can be extremely tough on your body.
“If Hardik plays in the India-A series, obviously he will get some game time. That was the clear message to him. In the meantime, Nitish will get more game time because he hasn’t played enough cricket since the IPL either. The more he bowls, the better he becomes. When you can have a couple of seam-bowling all-rounders, it will be handy in a year’s time,” the 44-year-old added.
Gambhir conceded that the recent tendency of India’s players to have injury breakdowns wasn’t ideal. He was echoing the views of Test and ODI skipper Shubman Gill, who had expressed his concerns after India’s tour of England in July.
During the just-concluded series against Afghanistan, spinner Varun Chakaravarthy, who had only recently recovered from a hamstring injury at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, suffered a side strain in the first game. He was subsequently ruled out of the Asian Games and next month’s T20I series against the West Indies.
“If I can give you an honest answer, then yes (it is a problem), especially in Tests and ODIs. You want your best players to play as many Tests and ODIs. The next World Cup is in the 50-over format. It’s not fair on a young captain as well if he doesn’t get the best team playing regularly. As a coach, I can take all the criticism, but I think it is important for Shubman to get the best playing XI as many times as he can in Tests and ODIs,” Gambhir stated.
The former India opener also explained the decision to bring back Sanju Samson into the playing XI at the expense of 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Samson, who had been dropped in England, justified his recall with two half-centuries against Afghanistan. Gambhir labelled the call to omit Samson, who was Player-of-the-Tournament in India’s victorious T20 World Cup campaign in March, as “probably the toughest” of his coaching tenure.
“Samson doesn’t need to give me any credit. His talent is enough for him to be in the dressing room. In this series, we were always very clear. From my point of view, I was very clear that we want to go back to the combination that we had during the World Cup. If a team has gone unbeaten from one World Cup to another and defended the title, I’m sure it’s a gun team. These guys do not become bad players after two or three failures,” said Gambhir.
It means that Sooryavanshi, despite smashing two half-centuries in Zimbabwe, will have to bide his time.
“From Vaibhav’s point of view, it was again a very clear conversation that he will have to wait for his opportunity. We know what he can do,” Gambhir elaborated. “But again, someone who has done extremely well over a period of two years will always be ahead of someone who is just part of the team. Whenever Vaibhav gets in, he will get a longer run as well. And that is what Indian cricket is all about. Whether you’re 15 or 30, you have to wait for your opportunity.”
Published on Sep 18, 2026
