Just a couple days after earning the maiden India call up for the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe, consisting of five T20Is, the upcoming sensational all-rounder Nitish Reddy gets ruled out of the series. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has come up with a replacement for the player.
At the moment, the team is busy in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, in the West Indies and the United States of America, where they have already qualified for the ‘semi-final’ after an excellent performance in the group stage and ‘super-eight’, where they have been unbeaten for the competition.
This ninth edition of the T20 World Cup has been confirmed to be the last assignment for the current India head coach Rahul Dravid, who would leave his position. The selectors are yet to name the new head coach, as the former player and the chief of the National Cricket Academy (NCA), VVS Laxman is expected to be the new coach for the Indian team in the Zimbabwe tour.
India replaces Nitish Reddy with another pace-bowling all-rounder
On Wednesday, the board named Shivam Dube, who is part of the T20 World Cup 2024 squad, as the replacement of Reddy, who is currently under observation of the board’s medical team.
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‘The Men’s Selection Committee named Shivam Dube as a replacement for the injured Nitish Reddy in India’s squad for the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe.’ The official statement of the BCCI states. ‘The BCCI Medical Team is monitoring Nitish Reddy’s progress.’
The 21-year-old Nitish Kumar Reddy has all the potential to be a valuable member of the side, given his vital skills of being a pace bowling all-rounder. In 20 T20 games, he has nailed 395 runs at a strike rate of close to 130.
When it comes to the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) player came up with 303 runs in the season in 13 innings, at a strike rate of 142.92, and an average of around 34, with a couple of half-centuries and a best score of unbeaten 76-runs. There were many such occasions where the team was under pressure and Reddy, coming in, showed his valuable prospect of taking the game deep.
India, perhaps, have decided to put more attention on the powerful spin-hitter, Shivam Dube, who has the technique and skill to bash the spinners in the middle overs of the innings. He showed the same in the IPL 2024 for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), and India in the 20-over ICC event.
The young side will be led by Shubman Gill, who will love to make a statement after being ignored by the T20 World Cup squad. His opening partner could be Yashasvi Jaiswal, who even after being in the squad didn’t get a chance as the management has decided to use Virat Kohli in the opening position.
With India using both Shivam Dube and Rishabh Pant in the middle order, and including Axar Patel, for having an extra bowling option, the reserve wicket-keeper batter Sanju Samson has failed to get a place in the playing eleven too, and he too will be in the plane for the Zimbabwe tour.
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India’s new and updated squad for the Zimbabwe tour:
Shubman Gill (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (wk.), Dhruv Jurel (wk.), Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube.
Full Schedule For India’s Tour of Zimbabwe:
1st T20I on July 06, Saturday
2nd T20I on July 07, Sunday
3rd T20I on July 10, Wednesday
4th T20I on July 13, Saturday
5th T20I on July 14, Sunday
