IND vs ENG: Why Rinku Singh and Nitish Kumar Reddy not playing in 2nd T20I in Chennai

Rinku Singh did not get a chance to bat in the first IND vs ENG T20I match in Kolkata.

Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and chose to field first in the second T20I of England’s tour of India in Chennai.

The hosts won the first game comfortably by seven wickets, thanks to the brilliant bowling performance which saw them dismiss England for just 132 runs in the first innings.

The Indian cricket team were dealt a couple of blows with the exclusion of Rinku Singh and Nitish Kumar Reddy from the playing XI in Chennai.

The duo have been replaced by Washington Sundar and Dhruv Jurel in the playing XI.

Why are Rinku Singh and Nitish Kumar Reddy not playing in 2nd T20I in Chennai?

Rinku Singh has been ruled out of the second and third T20Is of the five-match series due to a low back spasm that he sustained while fielding in the first T20I. Nitish Kumar Reddy has been ruled out of remainder of the series due to a side strain. He has been replaced by Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dube in the squad, while Ramandeep Singh replaced Rinku.

Neither Rinku nor Nitish had a chance to bat in the first T20I as India comfortably chased down the small target of 133 runs with seven wickets in hand. Abhishek Sharma top-scored with a brilliant 79-run knock, securing a comfortable win for the hosts.

Nitish, who impressed in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25, made his T20I debut against Bangladesh last year. Rinku Singh, on the other hand, has been a regular member of the Indian T20I squad following his impressive performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.

Playing XI of both teams for second T20I:

India: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakravarthy.

England: Phil Salt (wk), Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler (c), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid and Mark Wood.

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