Nitish Kumar Reddy likely to be ruled out of remainder of the England tour with knee injury- Reports

Nitish Kumar Reddy played a key role for India with bat and ball in the Lord’s test.

On Sunday (July 20), star all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy was ruled out of India‘s final two tests against England, as per the reports in ESPNCricinfo. The fourth test of the series will be played in Manchester from July 23 onwards, while the fifth and final test of the series will be played at the Oval in London from July 31 onwards.

After missing the series opener in Leeds, Nitish Kumar Reddy appeared in the second and third tests. He had little influence in Birmingham, scoring only two runs and bowling six wicketless overs.

He did, however, take key top-order wickets at Lord’s, eliminating England openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley in the same over in the first innings and Crawley again in the second, while scoring 30 and 13, respectively.

Nitish made his test debut for India against Australia in Perth last year and impressed many with his batting. He scored his maiden test century for India in the first innings of the Boxing Day test against Australia in Melbourne.

Nitish Kumar Reddy reportedly suffered a knee injury during a training session

ESPNCricinfo reported that the 22-year-old Andhra Pradesh cricket player suffered a knee injury during Sunday’s gym workout, with scans showing ligament damage.

India’s hopes of winning a test series in England after eighteen years have been severely hampered by the news of Reddy’s injury. The visitors are already battling Rishabh Pant, Arshdeep Singh, and Akash Deep’s injuries. Although Pant’s availability as wicketkeeper is still uncertain, Akash Deep and Arshdeep are all expected to miss the match in Manchester, beginning July 23.

In the absence of Reddy, Shardul Thakur is expected to be part of India’s playing XI for the Manchester test. Shardul, who has 33 wickets in 12 tests played so far, was named ahead of Nitish in the series opener played at Headingley, Leeds, last month.

Reddy has played a total of seven tests for India so far and has scored 343 runs in 13 innings in addition to taking eight wickets. His best bowling figures in tests are 2 for 32.

In the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, England leads the series 2-1, with wins in Leeds and at Lord’s, while India recorded its maiden test win at Edgbaston.

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