In what has come as a major development, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has 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. After reports circulated online, the BCCI made the official statement as well. 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 quadriceps injury before neck spasms 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 (for 1st Test)
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
One more reason why Nitish’s transfer to the ‘A’ side makes sense is that there are no Tests coming up as of now. Nitish was touted to be nurtured as an all-format pace-bowling all-rounder in the last Test series against the West Indies. However, he got to bowl just four overs in the two Tests, reducing his role significantly. Now, instead of keeping him on the sidelines, it is a great decision by the management to get him white-ball game time.
With Hardik Pandya being extremely injury-prone, India want Reddy to be ready for every challenge. He has played just two ODIs so far and could do with playing some high-quality 50-over games for India A. However, Nitish will join the India Test squad for the second Test in Guwahati that starts on November 22.
