Nitish Kumar Reddy will miss India’s upcoming trips to Ireland and England after aggravating a left-quadriceps strain during the third ODI against Afghanistan in Chennai last week. A BCCI medical bulletin confirmed on Monday that the 22-year-old “will undergo rehabilitation at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru for a minimum of four weeks”.
That time-frame rules Reddy out of the two T20Is in Malahide on 26 and 28 June and the five-match T20I series in England that starts on 1 July, as well as the three ODIs that follow. The selectors hope he will be fit for the two-Test tour of Sri Lanka pencilled in for August, although dates are still to be finalised.
The all-rounder first felt the twinge while bowling in the opening ODI in Dharamsala and sat out the second match in Lucknow. He returned for Chennai, sent down six wicketless overs for 42, then reported fresh discomfort that evening. “It didn’t feel right from the first spell,” a member of the support staff told local media off the record, “so we decided not to push him.”
India are now without either of their specialist seam-bowling all-rounders. Hardik Pandya is already rehabbing a leg injury picked up during a post-IPL conditioning stint at the same Bengaluru facility. No return date has been set for the white-ball vice-captain. Head coach Rahul Dravid admitted last week that the balance of the side is affected: “You like at least one quick who can bat in your top seven; it gives you so many options.”
Short-term cover exists but none is like-for-like. Shivam Dube, named in the T20I squad, is a batting all-rounder who bowls occasional medium pace. Rookie seamer Harshit Rana is travelling for both formats yet offers little with the bat. If the panel opts for a direct replacement, Mumbai youngster Suryansh Shedge is considered the frontrunner after a solid ‘A’ tour of Sri Lanka, where he struck his maiden List A fifty. His bowling returns—two wickets in five outings at 6.04 runs per over—were modest, although the think-tank value his control at the death.
India’s first assignment under new T20I captain Shreyas Iyer therefore begins without a genuine pace-bowling all-rounder, a role that underpinned their T20 World Cup win earlier this year. Former selector Sarandeep Singh believes adaptability is key: “Conditions in Ireland and the north of England suit seam, but you can still play two specialist quicks, use Dube for two overs, and carry an extra spinner. It’s not ideal, yet it’s workable.”
The squad is due to assemble in Dublin on Thursday before heading straight to Leeds for the opening T20I against England. The ODIs, staged at Southampton, Nottingham and The Oval, close the tour on 15 July.
Reddy’s setback is frustrating, but at 22 he has time on his side. “I’ll follow the programme and aim to be back for Sri Lanka,” he said in a brief social-media post on Sunday. “Thank you for the messages.”
