Full list of injuries suffered by India stars in 2026 as Shubman Gill raises alarm bells over Indian cricket's fitness

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Full list of injuries suffered by India stars in 2026 as Shubman Gill raises alarm bells over Indian cricket's fitness originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:​

• Shubman Gill flags fitness crisis after India's England series marred by injuries.
• Several key players have faced fitness issues since the turn of the year.
• Gill himself has quietly battled a nagging neck problem, too.

Shubman Gill sounds fitness alarm after England series defeat​

India captain Shubman Gill has raised serious concerns about his squad's physical conditioning after a string of injuries disrupted the team throughout their 2-1 ODI series defeat to England, admitting that players struggling to last even a three-match series point to a deeper problem within the setup.

Hardik Pandya, still working his way back from a back issue, picked up a quadriceps strain during rehab at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence, throwing selectors into early disarray.

His replacement, Nitish Kumar Reddy, then suffered a quadriceps injury of his own, while Harshit Rana and Washington Sundar both battled hamstring issues at different stages of the tour.

The most damaging setback arrived just before the Lord's decider, when Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out due to swelling in his left knee following an impact injury sustained in Cardiff. His unavailability hurt India badly, with the inexperienced pace attack unable to contain England's batting as they piled up 387.

MORE: Explained: Why Bumrah missed the India vs England 3rd ODI at Lord's

Speaking after the Lord's match, Gill highlighted that at least five players from India's original touring squad didn't even feature in the decider.

"If you look at the first squad that we announced, at least five of the players did not play today," Gill said.

"When one player gets injured, you have to play a different combination. If two are injured, you play a different combination. I think if a player is missing after every match (due to injury), somewhere we are missing a trick.

"If one morning you find out that a player has a ******. And then it's almost like, 'do you want to take a chance?' Someone is 80 per cent fit, you're playing with five bowlers and if he bowls five overs and goes off the field, then who will you bowl? It is difficult. But somewhere as a group, we need to improve our fitness."

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BCCI/Creimas

List: All Indian players who have been injured since 2026​

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli's fitness troubles trace back to the IPL 2026 final in late May, where he suffered a hamstring injury that pushed him straight into rehabilitation. The issue kept him out of India's series against Afghanistan, and his eventual selection for the England tour hinged on clearing a late fitness assessment.

Harshit Rana

Harshit Rana's year has been particularly frustrating. He suffered a lateral meniscus tear in his right knee earlier in 2026 that ruled him out of the IPL and the Afghanistan series.

After working his way back into the side, he then suffered a fresh Grade 1 right hamstring strain during the third T20I against England in July. The discomfort forced him out of action immediately, and he was subsequently sent to the BCCI's Centre of Excellence, ruling him out of the entire ODI leg against England.

Washington Sundar

Sundar's issue emerged suddenly during the first innings of the second ODI against England in Cardiff on July 16, when he pulled up with a sharp hamstring strain while fielding.

He struggled while batting, and the BCCI medical team had little choice but to withdraw him from the squad. India flew in Harsh Dubey as emergency cover ahead of the series-deciding match at Lord's, a game Sundar was ultimately forced to sit out.

Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah's issue stemmed from an impact injury to his left knee sustained while fielding during the Cardiff ODI. Although he completed that match, the knee swelled up overnight, prompting Gill and the medical staff to withdraw him from the Lord's finale as a precaution. Notably, he had also been rested earlier during the Afghanistan tour purely for workload management purposes.

Varun Chakravarthy

Varun Chakaravarthy's injury proved to be the most serious on this list, sustaining a hamstring tear during the third T20I against England. An MRI scan later confirmed it as a Grade 2 strain, more severe than Rana's. As a result, he will miss the entire five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe, with Ravi Bishnoi drafted in as his replacement.

Hardik Pandya

Pandya's fitness saga turned out to be one of the most damaging of the year. His troubles began during IPL 2026, when chronic back spasms forced him out of the latter half of Mumbai Indians' campaign, causing him to miss four crucial league games even before international duty came into the picture.

After checking into the BCCI Centre of Excellence for rehabilitation, disaster struck again, this time in the form of a fresh quadriceps strain picked up during intense bowling drills as he attempted to clear his final fitness checks.

The combination of setbacks completely wrecked his hopes of a quick return, and because he couldn't finish his full bowling workload, medical staff refused to clear him for multi-format international travel.

In total, Pandya ended up missing 11 international matches, comprising the entire three-match ODI series against Afghanistan, all five T20Is against England, and the full three-match ODI series against England as well.

Nitish Kumar Reddy

Nitish Kumar Reddy first felt discomfort in his left quad while bowling during the opening ODI against Afghanistan in Dharamsala.

Though he was rested for the second match as a precaution, he returned for the third ODI in Chennai, only for the workload of bowling through that game to significantly worsen the problem. Post-match scans revealed considerable muscle fibre disruption, a far more serious diagnosis than initially feared.

The injury ended up costing him his maiden senior white-ball tour of the United Kingdom entirely, and he was sent straight to the Centre of Excellence for a recovery period expected to last between four and six weeks, prompting selectors to draft in Suryansh Shedge as cover.

Altogether, Reddy missed eight international matches, including one ODI against Afghanistan, both T20Is against Ireland, and the full five-match T20I series against England.

Shubman Gill

Gill himself hasn't been entirely immune to physical troubles this year, quietly managing a nagging neck injury that has affected his movement and comfort at the crease.

He missed the South Africa Test series in late December after hurting his neck in Kolkata, and since then, this issue has been niggling. Although he hasn't missed a fixture in 2026, he had to retire early when he was 80 off 75 balls during the first ODI at Birmingham.

Player	Injury	Matches Missed	Details
Virat Kohli	Hamstring injury	3 ODIs (vs Afghanistan)	Sustained during the IPL 2026 final; underwent a late fitness test ahead of the England tour.
Hardik Pandya	Back spasms, then quadriceps strain	11 internationals (3 ODIs vs Afghanistan, 5 T20Is vs England, 3 ODIs vs England)	Also missed four IPL matches; re-injured during fitness test drills.
Nitish Kumar Reddy	Left quadriceps injury with fibre disruption	8 internationals (1 ODI vs Afghanistan, 2 T20Is vs Ireland, 5 T20Is vs England)	Aggravated the injury while bowling in the third ODI against Afghanistan; replaced by Suryansh Shedge.
Harshit Rana	Knee tear, then Grade 1 hamstring strain	3 ODIs (vs England)	Recurring injury concern; sent to the BCCI Centre of Excellence for rehabilitation.
Washington Sundar	Right hamstring strain	1 ODI (Lord's decider)	Injured during the Cardiff ODI and ruled out of the series decider; replaced by Harsh Dubey.
Jasprit Bumrah	Left knee impact injury with reactive swelling	1 ODI (Lord's decider)	Completed the Cardiff ODI before being ruled out of the Lord's match as a precaution.
Varun Chakaravarthy	Grade 2 hamstring tear	5 T20Is (vs Zimbabwe)	The most serious injury on the list; replaced by Ravi Bishnoi.
Shubman Gill	Neck injury	None (played through)	Managed an ongoing neck issue that affected his movement at the crease but did not miss a match.

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(getty)

A wake-up call India cannot afford to ignore​

The numbers here should alarm Indian cricket far more than any single scoreline. Pandya alone missed 11 international matches this year, while Reddy, still finding his feet at this level, lost eight games and his maiden UK tour before he'd even settled in.

These aren't freak, one-off incidents. There's a pattern of niggles turning into full-blown injuries, often because players return too soon or push through fitness tests that they clearly weren't ready to pass.

When a team can't get through a three-match bilateral series without losing five originally picked players, and when a key all-rounder like Pandya spends nearly an entire international window in rehab rather than on the field, something is fundamentally broken in how workload and recovery are being managed.

With the 2027 World Cup demanding a gruelling run of matches, India's medical and conditioning staff need to urgently rethink how players are being managed across an already packed calendar.

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