Nitish Kumar Reddy will not represent India at the 2026 Asian Games and will instead feature in the three-match ODI series against the West Indies. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced India’s squad for the home series on Wednesday (September 16), with Nitish included in the 15-member ODI squad.
The BCCI confirmed that Nitish has been withdrawn from the Asian Games squad to allow him to play the ODI series against the West Indies. The board also announced that Varun Chakaravarthy will miss the Asian Games and the upcoming Japan T20I due to injury.
Varun suffered a side strain while bowling in the first T20I of the ongoing three-match series against Afghanistan and was ruled out of the remaining two matches on Tuesday.
Delhi Capitals all-rounder Vipraj Nigam has been named as Varun’s replacement and will travel to Japan with the Indian team for the Japan T20I and Asian Games.
In a release, the BCCI said: “Varun Chakaravarthy has been ruled out of the upcoming Japan T20I and the Asian Games owing to a side strain. The Men’s Selection Committee has named Vipraj Nigam as his replacement. Nitish Kumar Reddy, who was originally included in the Asian Games squad, has been withdrawn and will feature in the ODI series against the West Indies.”
India’s Updated Squad for Japan T20I and Asian Games
Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (VC), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yash Thakur, Vipraj Nigam.
