There has been a change in the Indian team amid the ongoing five-match T20 series against England. Batsman Rinku Singh has been ruled out of two matches due to back spasms, while young all-rounder Nitish Reddy has been ruled out of the entire series due to a muscle strain. India has a 1-0 lead in the series, in the first T20, India had defeated England by 7 wickets on January 22, in which Rinku and Nitish were part of the Indian playing eleven, but both of them did not bat.
Batsman Ramandeep Singh has been included in the Indian squad in place of Rinku and all-rounder Shivam Dubey has been included in place of Nitish. BCCI gave this information before the second T20 in Chennai. Ramandeep has played two and Shivam has played 33 T20 International matches.
BCCI said in a statement, “All-rounder Nitish Reddy suffered a side strain injury during a practice session in Chennai on Friday (January 24). He has been ruled out of the T20 series and will now go to the BCCI Center of Excellence in Bengaluru.” The board further said, “Rinku had suffered back spasms while fielding in the first T20. His condition is improving, and the BCCI medical team is taking care of him. He has been ruled out of the second and third matches of the current series.”
According to the PTI report, 21-year-old Nitish will require about four weeks of rest and rehabilitation to return to competitive cricket, making his comeback possible only during IPL 2025. Nitish’s injury is disappointing for the Indian team, as he was progressing well in all formats.
Shivam Dubey is hoping to join Team India before the third T20 match in Rajkot on January 28. He played his last T20 International match against Sri Lanka in July last year, but was out of the team due to a back injury. Recently he made a comeback to domestic cricket, but failed to open the account in both the innings against Jammu and Kashmir in his first Ranji match.
India’s updated squad for England T20 International series:
Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Axar Patel (vice-captain), Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakraborty, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel. (Wicketkeeper), Shivam Dubey, Ramandeep Singh.
