Hardik Pandya of India (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)

India’s premier all-rounder Hardik Pandya is closing in on a major T20I milestone as he gears up for the five-match series against South Africa beginning on December 9. The 32-year-old has a chance to complete the rare double of 2,000 runs and 100 wickets in the shortest format. Pandya enters the contest needing 140 more runs to touch the 2,000-run mark in T20 internationals. With the ball, he sits just two wickets short of becoming only the second Indian to claim 100 T20I wickets. At present, he is India’s third-highest wicket-taker in this format with 98 scalps at an average of 26.58. With the bat, he has scored 1,860 runs from 120 matches, averaging 27.35 with a strike rate of 141.01, including five half-centuries.

He returns to the national side after a quadriceps injury cut short his Asia Cup 2025 campaign, ruling him out of the title-winning final against Pakistan and the subsequent white-ball tour of Australia. Pandya proved his fitness in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, smashing a 42-ball 77 to help Baroda chase down Punjab in a thriller. His availability is a significant boost for India as they move closer to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. The series against the Proteas begins in Cuttack on Tuesday, followed by matches in Mullanpur on December 11, Dharamsala on December 14, Lucknow on December 17 and Ahmedabad on December 19.India squad for T20I series against SA: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC)*, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington SundarNote: * Subject to fitness clearance from BCCI COE.