New Delhi, Jan 25: Shivam Dube has been named as Nitish Kumar Reddy’s replacement for the ongoing T20I series against England, while Ramandeep Singh has been called up for second and third matches as a cover for injured Rinku Singh.

IANS had previously reported that Dube was to join the T20I team ahead of the third T20I in Rajkot on January 28 as Reddy’s replacement after the latter picked up a side strain during the Indian team’s practice session at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday and that the recovery time, after the scans were done, is expected to be three to four weeks.

Now the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has confirmed that Reddy is ruled out of the ongoing series due to the side strain and will head to the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru for further management.

Dube was part of the India squad that won the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup last year in the West Indies and the USA. He last played for India in August 2024, when the side was playing an ODI series in Sri Lanka. He then missed India's 3-0 T20I series against Bangladesh due to a back injury, which kept him out of the initial stage of the Ranji Trophy too. Dube was back in action for Mumbai in the 2024/25 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he scored 151 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 179.76 and took three wickets at an economy of 9.31, as the side won the title.

Dube recently played for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy match against Jammu and Kashmir, where he got out for a duck in both innings while picking a scalp as Mumbai suffered a five-wicket defeat at the Sharad Pawar MCA Cricket Academy Ground in the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) on Saturday.

India won the first T20I against England at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata by seven wickets and 43 balls remaining. In that game, Reddy took two catches, including a superb diving catch, but did not get to bowl or bat.

The BCCI also added that Rinku, the left-handed batter, sustained a lower back spasm while fielding in the T20I series opener against England on January 22, which India won by seven wickets. “He is progressing well and the BCCI medical team is monitoring him closely. He is ruled out of the 2nd and 3rd games of the ongoing 5-match T20I series,” it added.

In place of him, seam-bowling all-rounder Ramandeep, who debuted on a tour of South Africa last year, will join the team for the aforementioned matches. India are currently leading the five-match T20I series 1-0 against England.

Ahead of the second T20I in Chennai, India also had an injury scare when left-handed opener Abhishek Sharma twisted his right ankle and was seen limping in the practice session, raising doubts over his availability for Saturday’s game. The BCCI, though, has still named Abhishek in their updated squad.

India’s updated squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Axar Patel (VC), Sanju Samson (WK), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Shivam Dube, and Ramandeep Singh. (IANS)

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