India's Hardik Pandya to miss home series against Australia

India all-rounder Hardik Pandya will miss the limited-overs series against Australia due to stiffness in the lower back, the country's cricket board said on Thursday. India will field a 14-player squad instead of the original 15 for the two Twenty20 matches starting on Sunday in Visakhapatnam. Ravindra Jadeja will replace Pandya for the five one-day internationals that follow the T20s, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a statement. "The BCCI medical team decided to rest the all-rounder and let him undergo strength and conditioning work for his lower back at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru," it said. "Mr Pandya will begin his strength work from next week." Pandya is expected to be key to India's chances at the World Cup starting May 30 in England and Wales. The 25-year-old recently found himself in the dock for making sexist comments on a TV chat show. Pandya bragged about his encounters with multiple women on the programme in January with teammate Lokesh Rahul sitting next to him. The duo were ordered to return from India's tour of Australia. However, Pandya returned from suspension to play in the New Zealand limited-overs series which concluded this month. He has scored 731 runs from 45 ODIs at an average of nearly 30, and has 44 wickets.

India's Hardik Pandya to miss home series against Australia

All-rounder to undergo strength and conditioning work on lower back, and will be replaced by Ravindra Jadeja for ODIs