Hardik Pandya hasn’t played for five months. (File Photo)
Fit-again India all-rounder Hardik Pandya is set to play in the D Y Patil T20 tournament, which began here on Monday.
Hardik suffered a bad lower back injury five months ago and underwent a surgery in London.
The 26-year-old all-rounder, who hasn’t played international cricket since then, has been recovering at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
“The Reliance 1 (team) would be represented by players like Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshvar Kumar, Shikhar Dhawan,” said Dr Vijay Patil, President, D Y Patil Sports Academy and also the President of Mumbai Cricket Association at a press briefing here.
Dhawan and Bhuvaneshvar are also on their road to recovery after sustaining injuries.
Bhuvaneshvar underwent a hernia operation, while Dhawan suffered a shoulder injury during the ODI series against Australia at home last month.
A total of 16 teams will vie for the trophy with the final set to be held on March 6.
As per the organisers, the Reliance 1 team will also have Anmolpreet Singh.
India players Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson and domestic stalwarts like Surya Kumar Yadav, Rahul Tripathi and Divyaansh Saxena, who represented U-19 India in the World Cup, are part of the BPCL team.
Dinesh Karthik, Mandeep Singh Rahul Tewatia, Varun Chakravorthy and young Maharashtra batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad will represent D Y Patil A team.
Another youngster Kamlesh Nagarkoti, pacer Varun Aaron and Manan Vohra would turn up for D Y Patil B team.
Other teams in fray are CAG, Income Tax, IOC, Bank of Baroda and RBI.