India vs South Africa, Nitish Kumar Reddy: Young all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has been released from the Test squad. He will not be part of the team for the match against South Africa starting November 14. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Wednesday that Nitish Kumar Reddy has been included in the India A squad for the ODI series against South Africa A.
The first match of the two-Test series between India and South Africa will be played at Eden Gardens from Friday. The BCCI released Nitish just two days before this match and included him in the team for the ODI series to be played against South Africa A team in Rajkot from November 13-19. Tilak Verma will lead the team in this three-match series. The BCCI said that Reddy will return to the team for the second Test after the end of the ODI series. The second match will be played in Guwahati from November 22.
According to sources, the 22-year-old Andhra all-rounder left for Rajkot earlier this week to play in the List A matches against South Africa A. The move is aimed at giving him more match time and the opportunity to regain fitness, as injuries have limited his appearances over the past few months.
Reddy was not Getting a Place in the Playing 11
India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate made it clear in a press conference on Wednesday, November 12th, that Reddy would not be part of the opening Test. He hinted that Dhruv Jurel would be included in the playing XI. Jurel's consistent form and impressive performances made his selection a certainty, which indirectly paved the way for Reddy's release.
“I don’t think you can leave him out for this Test, is the short answer. But obviously, you can only pick 11 as well, so someone else will have to miss out. I think we’ve got a pretty good idea of the combination.”
“Given the way Dhruv’s gone in the last six months, scoring two hundreds in Bangalore last week, he’s certain to play this week. Again, like what I mentioned about Washy [Washington Sundar], Axar [Patel], Jaddu [Ravindra Jadeja], for me, you’ve actually got three batters there. So it does give us a lot of flexibility. But I’d be very surprised if we don’t see Dhruv and Rishabh playing in this Test this week,” ten Doeschate said.
Reddy's cricket career has been hampered by injuries in recent months. A left quadriceps injury sustained during the ODI series in Adelaide ruled him out of the first three T20Is against Australia. Despite regaining fitness, he has since struggled with neck spasms, which has affected his rhythm.
Once considered one of India's most promising Test all-rounders, Reddy will now be focused on regaining form and rhythm with the India A team. His departure will help India improve their combination, as both experienced all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are available for the series.
India's Updated Squad for First Test: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (WK) (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep.
India A’s Updated Squad for One-day Series: Tilak Varma (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Ishan Kishan (WK), Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Vipraj Nigam, Manav Suthar, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy.
