Hardik Pandya to undergo fitness assessment ahead of Asia Cup
What's the story
Ahead of the Asia Cup 2025, star all-rounder Hardik Pandya will undergo a fitness assessment at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. The evaluation is scheduled for August 11 and 12, The Times of India reported. This comes as part of India's preparations for the upcoming continental tournament starting September 9. Here are further details.
Player updates
Updates on other players
In another update, Shreyas Iyer had completed his fitness assessment between July 27 and 29. The middle-order batter led Punjab Kings to the IPL 2025 final, a year after guiding Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their third title. Meanwhile, India's T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav is still recovering from a sports hernia surgery he underwent in June in Munich. He is expected to spend another week at the NCA under medical supervision for full recovery.
Training update
Suryakumar's recovery from surgery
Suryakumar recently shared a video on Instagram showing his return to batting practice at the NCA. He was also seen exercising and running as part of his recovery process. "Can't wait to be back doing what I love," he wrote in the post. His performance in IPL 2025 was remarkable, scoring 717 runs for Mumbai Indians and winning the Most Valuable Player award.
Tournament information
Asia Cup schedule and format
The Asia Cup, which was in doubt after the India-Pakistan conflict in May 2025, has been cleared to proceed. The tournament will be held from September 9 to 28 in the UAE, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi hosting matches. India have been drawn with Pakistan in Group A and could meet their arch-rivals up to three times during the tournament. They will start their campaign against the United Arab Emirates on September 10.