Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy suffer severe injuries, India forced to add CSK & KKR stars to T20I squad

Team India have suffered a couple of injury blows ahead of the second T20I against England. Just hours before the start of the game at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, the Men in Blue have lost the services of their middle-order batsmen Rinku Singh and allrounder Nitish Reddy.

The BCCI has confirmed that Nitish Kumar Reddy has been ruled out of the entire series due to a side strain. The highly-rated allrounder sustained the injury during a practice session in Chennai on Friday (January 24). Reddy will now be heading to the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru for further management.

On the other hand, Rinku Singh has been sidelined for the next two T20Is due to a back issue. The left-handed batsman sustained a low back spasm while fielding in the first T20I earlier this week and will miss the second and third T20Is.

The BCCI delivered a promising update on the batsman, stating: "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."

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India name replacement for Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rinku Singh:

Both Reddy and Rinku had played the first T20I at the Eden Gardens this week. However, neither of them got the chance to bat in the game as India registered a comfortable 7-wicket win. With both the players sidelined, the selection committee has named their replacement.

All-rounders Shivam Dube and Ramandeep Singh have been added to the squad. Dube was a part of the Indian team that won the T20 World Cup last year and last played a T20I during the series in Sri Lanka last July.

On the other hand, Ramandeep made his T20I debut during the series in South Africa last November. The allrounder played two games in that four-match series.

Meanwhile, India will be looking to take a 2-0 lead in the series when they lock horns against England in the second T20I on Saturday. The momentum is with the hosts after their thumping 7-wicket win in the series opener. India bowled out England just 132 runs before chasing down the total inside 13 overs.

India's updated squad for the T20I series against England:

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Axar Patel (VC), Sanju Samson (WK), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Shivam Dube, Ramandeep Singh.