NEW DELHI: India's star all-rounder Hardik Pandya is likely to regain full fitness for the white-ball series against South Africa, TimesOfIndia.com reported. Pandya will spend the next four weeks at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru in a bid to return to full fitness.

The report also added that Pandya is not required to undergo surgery for his quadriceps injury and has already commenced rehabilitation under the watchful eyes of the BCCI's medical team.

The 32-year-old joined the CoE last week but took a short break to celebrate Diwali. He resumed training on Wednesday, determined to return to full match fitness ahead of India's white-ball series against South Africa. The medical team, which outlined his recovery timeline last week, reported no major concerns following the initial assessment.

Pandya sustained the injury during India's Asia Cup clash against Sri Lanka, which ruled him out of the high-profile final against Pakistan. He has been sidelined since and was unavailable for the ongoing Australia tour, which includes three ODIs and five T20Is.

India's batting coach, Sitanshu Kotak, said the absence of Pandya was a big loss for India but that has opened an opportunity for all-rounders like Nitish Kumar Reddy.

"Someone like Hardik is always a big loss. But if we look at the positive side, Nitish is getting some game time and we're trying to groom him," Kotak said ahead of the 2nd ODI vs Australia in Adelaide.

"Every team needs an all-rounder, and we're trying to develop him (Nitish) in that role. So it's good preparation in that way. But yes, any team would miss a player like Hardik," Kotak said.

India will begin their three-match ODI series against South Africa on November 30, followed by a five-match T20I series.