Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul’s hopes of an imminent return to the India squad were further dashed when the country’s Supreme Court adjourned the case pertaining to the Lodha Committee reforms.

Pandya and Rahul’s case had been tied to the various ones surrounding the BCCI which were up for hearing at the Supreme Court. However, the court on Thursday decided to defer the hearing to a later date which is yet to be announced.

The Court has decided to only proceed with the various cases once an amicus curiae has been elected to replace Gopal Subramanium who had vacated the post recently.

Pandya and Rahul have been under limbo ever since their controversial remarks on a celebrity television show were aired. The two players were initially named in India’s squad for the ongoing ODI series against Australia but were subsequently suspended and sent back home after the public outrage over their remarks.

The players faced an initial inquiry over their comments where they were grilled by BCCI chief executive Rahul Johri and had plead guilty to charges of misconduct and indiscipline imposed on them by the Committee of Administrators (CoA).

The two players had also tendered an unconditional apology for their behaviour on the show.

The BCCI’s legal team had advised that the final and binding decision on the two players should be taken by an ombudsman but that BCCI post has been lying vacant since 2016.

CoA chairman Vinod Rai had suggested consulting the amicus curiae to appoint an ad-hoc ombudsman to expedite the matter but faced opposition from Diana Edulji who believes such a step would only contribute towards a hasty inquiry.

While CoA’s counsel believes it is imperative that the Supreme Court appoints the ombudsman, their BCCI counterparts have argued that the cricketing body reserves all rights to appoint its own ombudsman.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court declared that a decision on that regard can only be taken once a new amicus curiae has been appointed to replace Gopal Subramanium.