Who Has Replaced Nitish Kumar Reddy For T20I Series Against Ireland And England?
India's T20I squad for the back-to-back tours of Ireland and England has suffered a fresh setback just days after being announced, with all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy ruled out of both series through injury. Uncapped Punjab Kings batter Suryansh Shedge has been named as his replacement, earning a maiden India call-up.
What Happened to Nitish Kumar Reddy
Reddy reported left quadriceps discomfort following India's third ODI against Afghanistan in Chennai on June 20. A subsequent medical assessment led the BCCI Medical Team to recommend a period of rehabilitation, ruling him out of both the two-match T20I series against Ireland and the five-match series against England that follows.
The injury is a significant blow given the timing. Reddy had shown major improvement with his bowling workload and pace through IPL 2026, with Sunrisers Hyderabad's bowling coach praising his development over the season. He will undergo his rehabilitation at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru for at least a month, with the primary target being fitness for India's two-Test tour of Sri Lanka in August.
His absence compounds an already difficult selection picture for India's white-ball setup, with first-choice all-rounder Hardik Pandya already unavailable through a separate injury heading into this same period.
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Who Is Suryansh Shedge
The BCCI's official statement confirmed that the Men's Selection Committee has named Suryansh Shedge as a replacement for Nitish Kumar Reddy in India's squads for the upcoming T20I series against Ireland and England. The 23-year-old earned his maiden call-up on the back of a string of impressive performances for India A in the recently concluded tri-series in Sri Lanka.
Shedge was part of the India A squad that won the 50-over tri-series against Sri Lanka A and Afghanistan A. Batting in the lower-middle order, he scored 147 runs at a strike rate of 120.49 across that tournament, and also contributed with the ball, sending down 23 overs across five innings for two wickets at an economy rate of 6.04.
His domestic and franchise form has been building steadily over the past year. Playing for Punjab Kings in IPL 2026, Shedge scored 158 runs in seven innings at an average of 39.50 and a strike rate of 175.55. He was also one of the standout performers for Mumbai during their victorious Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign in 2024-25, scoring 131 runs at a strike rate of 251.92 from the lower middle order, exactly the kind of finishing role India will likely look to him for in Reddy's absence.
What This Means for the Squad Balance
Shedge's inclusion gives India a like-for-like replacement in terms of profile, a lower-order batter who can also contribute with the ball, even if his bowling is medium pace rather than Reddy's extra zip. With Hardik Pandya and now Nitish Kumar Reddy both unavailable, India head into the Ireland leg without two of their primary seam-bowling all-rounder options, placing greater responsibility on Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, and whoever else is asked to fill the all-rounder slots across the seven T20Is on this tour.
The timing of the injury, arriving just days before the squad's departure, is the latest reminder of how tightly packed India's white-ball calendar has become, and how thin the margin for error is when managing fast-bowling and seam-bowling workloads across formats in quick succession.
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