The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has drawn up big plans for Hardik Pandya. The Mumbai Indians captain has served the Indian team for nearly a decade and remains the only reliable pace-bowling all-rounder in the squad. There’s no one quite like him. Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah both serve as essential players who cannot be substituted. He now focuses only on white-ball formats and after winning the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 his clear target is the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2027. The BCCI expects specific performance standards from the all-rounder. Pandya needs to enhance his bowling skills while maintaining enough physical condition for him to handle all ten overs during 50-over matches. The team managed his workload since he had lower back surgery in 2019. After all, no one else offers the same balance he brings. Pandya started his career as a power-hitting finisher who could bowl fast under MS Dhoni. He developed into a match-winning player through his gradual development which took time to complete. He started his IPL career with explosive hitting for Mumbai Indians but later developed his pace bowling abilities. Pandya started his career by delivering fastballs which broke through 130 kilometer per hour speed limit. He now possesses skills which enable him to function as a dedicated fast bowler. The Baroda all-rounder has improved his performance ability although he still faces certain restrictions. He now runs at 140 kilometer per hour and he reliably produces swing and seam movement when using the new ball. The 2027 World Cup requires him because He should be playing alongside Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. The Indian management wants to keep Pandya protected because South African pitches create conditions which benefit fast bowlers. The team continues to monitor his condition with ongoing observation. They need him to achieve top physical condition because they expect him to pitch ten overs throughout each ODI match during the tournament. The 32-year-old has made progress because he dedicated himself to this work during the past three months. The BCCI determined that he needed more time to develop his bowling skills when he missed India’s last ODI series against New Zealand national cricket team in January. He needed two months to recover from his quadriceps injury which he suffered during the Asia Cup 2025. Also Read | Fastest Ever? Sudharsan Leaves Buttler, Conway Behind in Rare IPL Feat During GT vs RR Clash Hardik Pandya injuries timeline: Period Injury Type Event / Context Late 2016 Shoulder / Nets Injury England Tour of India Sept 2018 Acute Lower Back Asia Cup (vs Pakistan) Sept 2019 Lower Back Recurrence T20Is vs South Africa Oct 2023 Left Ankle Ligament ODI World Cup (vs Bangladesh) Sept 2025 Left Quadricep Asia Cup (vs Sri Lanka) Pandya has bowled ten overs during his 88 ODI matches on only 18 occasions which all happened before his 2019 surgery. Although he occasionally bowls full spells during domestic tournaments like the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Baroda he has maintained an ODI bowling average of 5.2 overs per match since 2020. He participated in the four-man pace attack during the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 which included spin bowlers Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav. The requirement to bowl ten overs did not apply to him because an ankle injury prevented him from playing further. Pandya has dedicated all of his attention to the ODI World Cup after completing his T20 commitments. He has already stated his ambition to win as many ICC trophies as possible with India. His position as a pace-bowling all-rounder directly supports the Men in Blue's goal to achieve that target. The Times of India reports that Pandya contacted selectors in January to confirm that he has been working hard on his bowling fitness. Now he needs to show the team management that he can maintain a ten-over bowling performance throughout ODIs. Hardik Pandya’s ODI bowling stats: Mat Inns Overs Wkts BBI Avg Econ SR 94 88 576.4 91 4/24 35.50 5.60 38.0