Hardik Pandya undergoes successful back surgery in London, out for minimum 3-4 months
New Delhi, Oct 5: India all-rounder Hardik Pandya on Saturday underwent a successful surgery for an acute lower-back injury, which is expected to keep him out of action for at least four months.
As per information received, Hardik is likely to be out of action for a minimum period of 12-16 weeks (3-4 months) and is expected to be match-fit before the Indian Premier League.
That Hardik could be out for a long period due to back injury was first reported by the PTI on October 1.
"Hardik Pandya complained of lower back pain after India's final T20I against South Africa in Bengaluru on 22nd September. The BCCI Medical Team consulted a panel of spine specialists in England and they recommended surgery for a long-term solution of this issue," BCCI issued a medical bulletin on Saturday.
"The all-rounder travelled to London on 2nd October with Team India physiotherapist Mr Yogesh Parmar. On Friday, a successful surgery was conducted. Hardik will soon commence his rehabilitation process."
The all-rounder on his part posted a message on his instagram account.
"Surgery done successfully. Extremely grateful to everyone for your wishes. Will be back in no time! Till then miss me," Hardik posted a message with a picture on his Instagram account on Saturday.
The Baroda all-rounder is the second key member in the Indian after premier speedster Jasprit Bumrah, who has been ruled out of the ongoing Test series against South Africa due to stress fracture in his lower back.
Hardik played the T20I series against South Africa before being ruled out of the Test series but it wasn't ascertained then that the back injury had resurfaced.
Hardik first sustained the injury during the Asia Cup in UAE last September. He recovered in time to play in the IPL and the World Cup before the injury resurfaced.
Surgery done successfully ?
— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) October 5, 2019
Extremely grateful to everyone for your wishes ❣️ Will be back in no time! Till then miss me ? pic.twitter.com/XrsB8bWQ35
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RBI keeps policy rate unchanged amid inflationary pressure
Mumbai (PTI): The Reserve Bank on Wednesday expectedly kept interest rates unchanged amid hopes of a global recovery on the back of ceasefire in the six-week-long US/Israel-Iran conflict.
The policy decision comes as a month and a-half-long West Asia conflict has disrupted energy supplies, shot up crude oil prices and created fiscal and inflationary pressures for import-dependent nations like India.
This is the first monetary policy review after the government announced a fresh inflation target for the RBI last month. The government has asked the RBI to maintain retail inflation at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side for another five years ending March 2031.
Announcing the first bi-monthly monetary policy for the current fiscal, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has unanimously decided to retain short-term lending rate or repo rate at 5.25 per cent with a neutral stance.
The rate cut pause comes on the back of the consumer price index (CPI) based headline retail inflation that moved closer to the RBI's medium-term target of 4 per cent at 3.21 per cent in February.
Additionally, the rupee has depreciated by over 4 per cent since the war, which has consequences for pushing up import inflation.
However, the rupee has appreciated by 50 paise to 92.56 against US dollar following announcement of the ceasefire by the US and Iran.
Based on the recommendation of the MPC, the RBI reduced the repo rate by 25 bps each in February, April, and December 2025 and 50 basis points in June amidst easing retail inflation.
India's retail inflation dropped to a historic low of 0.25 per cent in October 2025, marking the lowest level since the Consumer Price Index (CPI) series was introduced.
However, the rupee declined to historic low and crossed 95 against a dollar last month making imports costlier, raising fears of rise in inflation. Rupee touched a record low of 95.21 on March 30, 2026.
