Shivam Dube to replace injured Nitish Reddy in Indian squad for remaining T20Is against England
Dube is expected to link up with the national squad before the third T20I in Rajkot on January 28
Mumbai: Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dube will replace Nitish Kumar Reddy in the Indian squad for the last three T20 Internationals against England after the young power-hitter sustained a side strain, the BCCI said on Saturday.
Nitish sustained the injury during the nets session on Friday ahead of India’s second T20I against England at Chennai. “Reddy will head to the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru for further management,” the BCCI release stated.
He could require around four weeks of rest and rehabilitation to come back to competitive cricket. This could effectively mean that Reddy’s comeback will happen only during the upcoming Indian Premier League for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Rinku injured
Meanwhile, the BCCI also said lower-order batter Rinku Singh sustained a low back spasm while fielding in the first T20I against England on January 22 at the Eden Gardens. “He is progressing well and the BCCI medical team is monitoring him closely. He is ruled out of the 2nd and 3rd games of the ongoing T20I series,” the BCCI release said.
Ramandeep Singh has been added to India’s squad as a cover for Rinku Singh. However, Reddy’s injury came as a massive disappointment as he has been progressing well as an all-format player. Incidentally, the last time Reddy was forced out of the Indian team due to injury was during his maiden T20I tour of Zimbabwe and it was Dube, who had replaced him.
However, this is a second wind for Dube as he was initially overlooked while selecting the T20 squad for the England series. The imposing big-hitter, who last played for India during the series against Sri Lanka in July last year, had a layoff due to a back injury and recently returned to domestic cricket after rehabilitation.
The 31-year-old didn’t find a place in the squad against England because of Reddy’s recent exploits. He was part of the Mumbai team that lost to Jammu and Kashmir in a Ranji Trophy match on Saturday, bagging a pair (duck in both innings) during the game.
He has so far played 33 T20Is, scoring 448 runs at a strike rate of nearly 135. He has picked up 11 wickets with his military medium-pace bowling.
India’s updated squad for the T20I series against England: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Axar Patel (VC), Sanju Samson (WK), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Shivam Dube, Ramandeep Singh.