In what has come as a major development, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has perhaps made a huge decision just a couple of days before the first Test match between India and South Africa. The 15-man squad will be reduced to 14 as the Indian management has released Nitish Kumar Reddy from the squad. Earlier today, India’s assistant coach claimed that Nitish will be dropped from the playing XI in Kolkata as Rishabh Pant walks into the side, with Dhruv Jurel playing as a specialist batter.
Nitish Reddy to play for India A under Tilak
Now, instead of wasting him on the bench, the management looks to have taken a practical call and instead included him in the 3-match 50-over series between India A and South Africa A. While there’s no official confirmation yet, Nitish’s release has been reported by India Today. Apparently, Nitish has already joined India A in Rajkot, where they start their three-match series against a strong South Africa A. However, led by Tilak Varma, India A is already star-studded.
Nitish Reddy’s recent weeks were marred due to injuries. While he did well in the ODI series against Australia, the 22-year-old missed out in the T20I series. He was ruled out of the first three matches due to a quadricep injury before neck spams hindered his recovery. Now, instead of toiling in red-ball cricket, the Indian management is taking a more pragmatic approach. Now that Nitish has been drafted into the India A setup, he is most likely to play as well, keeping either Nishant Sindhu or Manav Suthar out of the XI.
Updated India Test squad vs SA
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Bench: Akash Deep, Devdutt Padikkal, Axar Patel
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