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Shivam Dube joins the Indian T20I squad for the series against England after Nitish Kumar Reddy’s injury. He will join the team in Rajkot before the third match.
Shivam Dube. (Sportzpics)
The Indian men’s cricket team management has reportedly asked all-rounder Shivam Dube to join the T20I squad for the five-match series against England. He will join the squad in Rajkot ahead of the third match.
He’ll replace Nitish Kumar Reddy, who has picked up a side strain and has been advised four weeks of rest. It rules him out for the remaining four T20Is, with the last one slated for February 2 in Mumbai.
“All-rounder Nitish Reddy sustained a side strain injury in the practice session on 24th January in Chennai. He is ruled out of the ongoing 5-match T201 series. Reddy will head to the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru for further management,” the BCCI said in a statement.
India and England will also play three ODIs between February 6 and 12 and if Reddy can’t recover in time, he might return to action only in the IPL.
Dube last played for India in August 2024 in an ODI series against Sri Lanka, before missing the next T20I rubber against Bangladesh due to a back injury.
He also missed the initial rounds of the ongoing 2025 Ranji Trophy due to back troubles but has recovered and featured in the recently concluded match against Jammu and Kashmir in Mumbai, recording two ducks and taking a wicket.
The last time Dube played a competitive T20 was in the latest edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy where he scored 151 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 179.76. Overall, he has played 33 T20Is for India for 448 runs at a strike rate of 134.93 and 11 wickets at an average of 39.45.
Reddy the second team member to get injured in as many days after left-handed opener Abhishek Sharma twisted his ankle on Friday. Although he was spotted walking in Chepauk after the incident, Abhishek didn’t bat in the nets and is also doubtful to play in the second T20I.
India’s current reserves comprise Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel and Mohammed Shami.
India played the first T20I with a combination of one specialist pacer, two specialist spinners, two pace all-rounders (including Reddy) and one spin all-rounder. To replace Reddy for the second T20I, India can either look at Mohammed Shami, though it’ll decrease the batting depth, or go for Sundar, though it’ll reduce them to just two pace options and four spinners.
Jurel could get a chance to open the batting if Abhishek is out.
