Credit: BCCI
Nitish Kumar Reddy, the Indian all-rounder, has been ruled out of the ongoing Test tour to England due to an injury, which is a huge setback for the side in their bid to make a comeback in the Test series. After finding themselves 2-1 down with two matches remaining, India are in desperate need to win the upcoming fourth Test match at Old Trafford in Manchester, scheduled to begin on Wednesday, July 23, to stay in the series.
After having a tough outing with the bat at Edgbaston in Birmingham in the second Test, getting dismissed on one twice, Nitish Kumar Reddy performed quite well with the bat in the third Test at Lord’s in London. The right-hander spent a lot of time in the first innings into the 30s before finding himself in a tough situation in pursuit of 193-run target in the second innings with India staring at a defeat.
Despite that, he guts it out in the middle with fellow all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, stitching a valuable partnership for the eighth wicket, to keep India in the contest till the second half of day five before the visitors lost the third Test by 22 runs. With the ball in hand, Nitish Kumar Reddy picked up crucial wickets as the sixth bowler for India in both the Test matches while keeping his economy in check.
India might have to play extra bowler in place of Nitish Kumar Reddy if he is indeed ruled out
But, in the build-up to the fourth Test match, which is set to kick-start in three days’ time, an unfortunate news regarding Nitish Kumar Reddy’s availability has just been broken. Sahil Malhotra, the journalist at the Times of India, wrote on his official X account, “Nitish Kumar Reddy ruled out of England Test series due to an injury.”
While the BCCI are yet to officially confirm the news, if Nitish Kumar Reddy is indeed ruled out of the remaining two Test matches on the England tour, then the Indian team management might have to play an extra bowler in place of him.
