The Indian team has long faced a shortage of suitable pace-bowling all-rounders. This problem has repeatedly become evident during overseas tours. India has used Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, and Hardik Pandya at times. This time, the Indian team suffered a major blow right at the start of the T20 series against Australia. They will not have Nitish Kumar Reddy for the first three matches due to injury. This was officially announced by the BCCI before Wednesday's first match. What did they announce?
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Nitish Kumar Reddy’s injury update
Nitish Reddy was injured during the second ODI match against Australia in Adelaide. He could not play in the third ODI match. It was already certain that he would not be able to play in the first T20 match, but now the complete update has been revealed.
The BCCI announced in a social media post that Nitish will not be able to play in the first three T20 matches. He had suffered a quadriceps muscle injury in the second ODI match. However, it has now been revealed that he is also suffering from neck spasm. This has hindered his recovery and quick return to the team. Members of the board's medical team are monitoring him.
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Shivam Dube has got an opportunity in the team for the first T20 match in place of Nitish. He will probably play in the next two matches as well. However, the Indian team had already announced that they want to keep a pace-bowling all-rounder ready in all three formats, thinking about the future. For this, Nitish Kumar Reddy is in the team management's plans.
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Therefore, Nitish is being given opportunities in all three formats – Test, ODI, and T20. He made his Test debut in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. This time, he made his ODI debut against Australia as well. But despite getting opportunities, injury has become an obstacle for this young cricketer.