New Delhi: Off-spin bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar and seam-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy have been deemed fit for the upcoming T20I series against Afghanistan, beginning on September 13. The duo are set to join the team in the national capital on Thursday.
“Both Sundar and Reddy became fully fit sometime ago. The duo have cleared their fitness tests and match stimulations at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru,” a source tracking the developments told IANS on Wednesday.
Sundar had missed the recent two-game Test series in Sri Lanka due to a hamstring injury picked during the second ODI against England in Cardiff in July. Reddy last featured for India during the home ODI series against Afghanistan in June before aggravating a left quadriceps injury, which led to him missing out on trips to Ireland, England and Sri Lanka.
There is no definitive word yet on Jasprit Bumrah joining the team for the three-game series after a knee injury sustained while fielding in the second ODI against England has kept him out of action.
There’s also suspense over the participation of seam-bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana, who has been recovering from the hamstring injury picked up during the England tour in July. If either of the two don’t link up with the national team, India pacer and local lad Prince Yadav shapes as an option for last-minute inclusion into the squad.
The three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, also the first-ever bilateral series against the Ibrahim Zadran-led side in the shortest format, serves as the primary preparatory window for the Shreyas Iyer-led squad before they depart for Japan.
India are scheduled to play a solitary T20I game against Japan at the Sano International Cricket Ground on September 22 before commencing their Asian Games gold medal defence at the Korogi Sports Park on September 28.
Meanwhile, Ishan Kishan, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Tilak Varma will link up with the Indian team in New Delhi once they are done with their ongoing Duleep Trophy final commitments in Chennai. IANS understands that the trio’s arrival in the national capital depends on when a drawn result is called in the final at Chepauk.
(IANS)
