Uncapped all-rounder Suryansh Shedge will join India’s T20I squad for the upcoming matches in Ireland and England after Nitish Kumar Reddy withdrew with a left-quadriceps strain.
The 23-year-old impressed on the recent India A tri-series win in Sri Lanka, scoring 147 lower-order runs at a strike-rate just over 120 and sending down 23 tidy overs of medium-pace for two wickets. He followed up with 158 runs in seven IPL innings for Punjab Kings, striking at 175.55 and averaging close to 40.
“He’s shown he can close an innings with the bat and offer reliable overs,” a selector noted in Monday’s brief media call, adding that the panel “didn’t hesitate” once Reddy’s scan results came through.
Reddy aggravated the quad during last week’s third ODI against Afghanistan in Chennai. A BCCI medical update confirmed he will begin rehabilitation at the board’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru and is “expected to return to competitive cricket in time for the two-Test tour of Sri Lanka in August”.
With Reddy sidelined, India were already reshuffling resources. Mohammed Siraj was earlier rested for workload management, while Varun Chakravarthy continues to nurse a bruised foot. Captain Shreyas Iyer therefore heads a touring party heavy on young all-round options: Abhishek Sharma, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel and now Shedge.
Former India coach WV Raman believes the move is timely. “English conditions in July can suit someone like Shedge – he hits through the line, bowls stump-to-stump, and fields above average,” Raman told NewsShedge.
India open with two T20Is against Ireland in Belfast on 26 and 28 June before crossing the Irish Sea for five T20Is and three ODIs in England. The short-format matches are set for Chester-le-Street (1 July), Manchester (4 July), Nottingham (7 July), Bristol (9 July) and Southampton (10 July).
Updated India T20I squad
Shreyas Iyer (capt), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (vice-capt), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Suryansh Shedge, Prasidh Krishna.
The group gathers in Dublin on Tuesday, keen to fine-tune plans before the jam-packed English leg.
