India vs England: Shami's international return delayed yet again as Reddy, Rinku miss out due to injuries

Mohammed Shami’s much-awaited international return was delayed for the second time this week after the senior pacer was left out of India’s XI for the second T20I against England in Chennai on Saturday. The Suryakumar Yadav-led Men in Blue once again preferred left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh, who was named the ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year 2024 on Saturday, as their lone frontline quick with all-rounder Hardik Pandya offering seam support.

India, who once again opted to field after winning the toss, bolstered their spin department by including all-rounder Washington Sundar, who replaces Nitish Kumar Reddy in the XI. Wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, meanwhile, replaced Rinku Singh in the other change to the Indian XI that had thrashed England by seven wickets in the first T20I in Kolkata on Wednesday.

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Reddy, Rinku pick up injuries

Reddy was ruled out of the remainder of the T20I series against England on Saturday. The seam-bowling all-rounder, who was among India’s top performers in their tour of Australia recently, had suffered a side strain during a nets session, and has been replaced by Mumbai and Chennai Super Kings’ Shivam Dube in a like-for-like replacement.

According to a BCCI statement, Reddy will be heading to Bengaluru’s Centre of Excellence for further management and could require up to four weeks of rest and rehabilitation. Since he has not been included in India’s squad for the ICC Champions Trophy, Reddy might end up returning to action directly in the 18th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) which gets underway on 21 March.

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Rinku, meanwhile, will be missing the third T20I in Rajkot in addition to Saturday’s fixture at the MA Chidambaram Stadium after sustaining a lower back spasm while fielding during the first T20I at the Eden Gardens.

“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 T20I series,” the BCCI release added.

Ramandeep Singh, who had made his international debut during India’s T20I tour of South Africa in November, has been added to the squad as cover for Rinku.

England captain Jos Buttler, meanwhile, had named two changes for the visitors – Jamie Smith coming in for Jacob Bethell and Brydon Carse replacing Gus Atkinson.

Teams:

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

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