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Nitish Kumar Reddy has begun his rehabilitation at the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Center of Excellence in Bengaluru. He missed multiple back-to-back series, including India’s tour of the United Kingdom, because of the quadriceps injury he suffered last month.
Reddy is likely to take a significant amount of time before regaining his match fitness. Therefore, the pace bowling all-rounder is unlikely to be picked for India’s two-match Test series against Sri Lanka.
BCCI to review Team India's recent performances
BCCI will evaluate the India National Cricket Team’s performance early next month, based on their performance in Ireland, England and Zimbabwe. The meeting will decide the future of the bowling coach Morne Morkel and assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate, who reportedly want to part ways with the Indian cricket team.
While speaking to Cricbuzz, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia informed that the squad for the away Test series against Sri Lanka will be picked on Tuesday. As Nitish Kumar Reddy is among the few cricketers who represented the team across all three formats, he could be part of the discussion when the selectors hold a meeting to pick the squad for the Test series against Sri Lanka.
Nitish Kumar Reddy is likely to miss Tests vs Sri Lanka
Team India is scheduled to play Sri Lanka a couple of Tests, the first Test in Galle from August 15 to 19, and the second one will be in Colombo from August 23 to 27. Nitish Kumar Reddy is likely to miss both of the matches.
The media report claimed that Nitish Kumar Reddy has been working on his bowling in Bengaluru at the Center of Excellence, but his return date is still unknown. As the 23-year-old is considered one of the brightest prospects in Indian cricket, the board could adopt a well-measured approach to make him injury-free before selecting him for competitive games.
Reddy has begun his training, but is unlikely to feature for India in the longest format of the game soon. Instead, a string of white-ball series in September could see his return in Indian colours.
In late September, the Indian cricket team is scheduled to face West Indies in a three-match ODI series followed by a five-match T20I contest. If things go according to plan and Nitish Kumar Reddy recovers well ahead of the India vs West Indies bilateral series, then he could be in contention for selection in the white-ball series against the Caribbean cricket team.
Nitish Kumar Reddy last played for India in June
Reddy last featured for India on June 20 in Chennai, for an ODI match against Afghanistan. He played a couple of ODIs against Afghanistan before being ruled out due to an injury.
So far, the Andhra Pradesh-born 6 ODIs for the Men in Blue, scoring 100 runs in 4 innings for an average of 33.33. With the ball, he has claimed only a couple of wickets in as many matches. He picked up both wickets against Afghanistan in Dharamshala.
