INDIA TOUR OF ENGLAND
Reddy was part of India’s XI in the second and third Tests © Getty
Team India has suffered another major setback ahead of the fourth Test against England at Old Trafford. All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, one of the standout performers in the closely contested third Test at Lord’s, has sustained a serious injury and is most certainly will miss not just the fourth Test but possibly the remainder of the series as well.
The development comes on a day when it was revealed that pacer Akash Deep – one of India’s match-winners in the second Test at Edgbaston – is likely to miss the Manchester Test due to a back injury. He, along with fellow pacer Arshdeep Singh, will be a non-starter for the fourth Test, scheduled from July 23 to 27.
Sources have told Cricbuzz that Reddy (22) has sustained an injury to his left knee, leaving his further participation in serious doubt. The exact circumstances of the injury remain unclear, though it is believed to have occurred during a mobility training session. The Indian team had to train indoors on Sunday (July 20) due to rain in Manchester.
It has been learned that Nitish went for scans and exact nature and enormity of the injury will be known only after the results but as of now it does not look very encouraging for the young all-rounder, who had claimed three crucial wickets upfront in both the innings at Lord’s besides scoring 43 crucial runs for the team.
On Sunday, the Indian team went to Old Trafford to interact with the Manchester United players and Nitish was one of the members of the Indian squad that missed the trip to the famous football ground. The other player was apparently KL Rahul but the India opener is fine and there are no concerns around his fitness.
Sources familiar with the development have confided to Cricbuzz that the all-rounder is almost certainly out of the series, although a clearer picture will emerge once the scan results are known.
With two more Tests left in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, the team management may have to fall back on Shardul Thakur, who was preferred to Nitish in the first Test at Leeds before the Andhra all-rounder reclaimed his place in the next two games.
© Cricbuzz
