For most players, three India A games would be a chance to push their case for a place in the senior side. For someone like Hardik Pandya, the matches could mean something different. India already know what he can do. What they need to know is whether his body is ready to do it again.The 32-year-old was named on Wednesday in the India A squad for three one-day matches against Australia A in Puducherry, on October 6, 9 and 11, subject to fitness clearance. If he plays, it will mark his return to competitive cricket after more than four months.His last appearance came for Mumbai Indians in the IPL, in May. Since then, a back spasm and a quadriceps injury have kept him out, and a fresh complication ruled him out of the ODI series against Afghanistan after he had initially been selected, subject to fitness.The India A games, then, arrive at an important point for both Pandya and India’s ODI plans. Hardik Pandya is expected to return to action during the India A one-day games against Australia A in October. (PTI Photo)After hosting West Indies later this month, India play a five-match ODI series against New Zealand starting November 4, followed by three-match series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. With the 2027 World Cup approaching, the coming months give India a sustained run of 50-over cricket, and a chance to settle on the combination they want for the tournament.Few players affect that combination as much as Pandya does.India have plenty of specialist batsmen and fast bowlers. What they lack is someone who can bat in the middle order, finish an innings, and give the captain a genuine seam-bowling option too. That’s what makes Pandya hard to replace.Story continues below this adAlso Read | ‘Winning trophies is Hardik Pandya’s best habit’: Indian all-rounder sets sights on 2027 ODI World Cup and Olympic gold medalHis presence lets India shape their batting and bowling combinations around a dual option. They’ve also struggled to find another reliable seam-bowling all-rounder in his absence, with Nitish Kumar Reddy, one alternative, still working his way back from injury.The batting role matters just as much. Pandya can walk in after an early collapse and rebuild, or arrive in the final overs and go straight on the attack. He’s shown he can do either, depending on what the situation demands, and that flexibility has made him central to India’s planning.There’s also the question of workload. India won’t need Pandya to bowl ten overs every time he plays. But his value in the XI rises considerably when the captain can call on him for a proper spell, rather than use him as an occasional option.That value, though, depends on his ability to do both jobs consistently.Story continues below this adWhich is why the three games in Puducherry could tell India more than a fitness test at the Centre of Excellence ever would. Being cleared to play is one thing. Getting through a 50-over match, bowling a spell, batting, and coming back two or three days later to do it all again is another. India’s Hardik Pandya celebrates with the trophy after India won the T20 World Cup final match against New Zealand in Ahmedabad, India, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)The schedule should give India a clearer picture: matches on October 6, 9 and 11, close enough together to build his workload while showing how his body responds between games.The timing of the series that follows makes this especially relevant. Conditions in New Zealand often reward a seam-bowling all-rounder, and five matches in 12 days will test anyone returning from a long absence. The series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe after that give India further chances to work him back into the ODI setup and build his load gradually.Also Read | Hardik seeks return to Gujarat Titans, with captaincy rider; franchise says noPandya hasn’t played an ODI for India since the 2025 Champions Trophy final. His long absence from competitive cricket means India can’t simply assume the player who returns will be immediately ready for the workload expected of him.Story continues below this adThere’s one step before Puducherry, though. The asterisk beside his name in the India A squad matters: his participation is still subject to fitness clearance.If he gets it, the three games become an important test, not just of runs and wickets, but of how his body holds up. For India, a fit Pandya would solve a problem they haven’t found another answer to.India A One-Day squad: Priyansh Arya, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal (VC), Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Rajat Patidar, Kumar Kushagra (WK), Nishant Sindhu, Vipraj Nigam, Arshin Kulkarni, Arshad Khan, Naman Dhir, Hardik Pandya*, Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Gurjapneet Singh, Yash Thakur*Subject to fitness clearance