Hardik Pandya heads to London, ruled out of New Zealand Tests

New Delhi, Feb 1:  India all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been ruled out of the upcoming Test series against New Zealand as he has travelled to London for a review of his back by spinal surgeon James Allibone.

As per the BCCI release, Hardik was accompanied by NCA head physio Ashish Kaushik to UK and the cricketer will undergo rehab at the National Cricket Academy until he regains full match fitness.

Both Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah had earlier hired the services of Delhi Capitals trainer Rajnikanth Sivagnanam to undergo rehab post their injuries. The duo had refused to head to the NCA and while Yogesh Parmar kept an eye on Pandya's progress post his back surgery, Nitin Patel studied every process that Bumrah followed during his rehab after the stress fracture the pacer had suffered on his back.

But the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly made it clear that all players must report to the NCA to undergo rehab.

"I met Dravid yesterday, and we have put a system in place. The bowlers will have to go to the NCA. If anybody (else) has to treat them, they will have to come to NCA," Ganguly had said.

"Whatever may be the reason, we will accommodate everything. We will also make sure the players are comfortable and they don''t feel left out or out of place. So, we will do it that way.

"We are going full throttle with the NCA. Construction work will start (at the new land) and it will be a state-of-the-art unit. In 18 months'' time, if we are still there, you will see an NCA that will be spick and span."