The all-rounder problem for Team India persists as the backup of Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, has gone down with an injury and will miss the entire tour of the UK.
Despite the riches of talent in all positions, the Indian cricket team has always struggled for quality seam-bowling all-rounders.
Hardik Pandya is hailed as India’s best pace-bowling all-rounder since Kapil Dev, but he has had his fair share of injury issues over the past few years. While Hardik’s last Test match was in 2018, he has not played any ODI since March 2025.
He recently missed a few games in the IPL and the following ODI series against Afghanistan. He had reported to the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru for back spasms but then sustained a leg injury there while training, which forced him to miss the upcoming tour of Ireland and England that begins on June 26.
The BCCI selectors and Indian team management are preparing Nitish Kumar Reddy as Hardik’s replacement – Hardik also missed the second half of the World Cup 2023 due to an ankle injury, and India had to rejig their combination, which meant they were a batsman short and that hurt them in the final.
However, now even Reddy has been the victim of injury as his workload has increased. Reddy missed the 2nd ODI against Afghanistan due to a left quadriceps injury, which got exacerbated when he bowled in the 3rd ODI. That is something that could have been avoided had the management rested him.
Who Has Replaced Nitish Kumar Reddy For T20I Series Ireland And England?
23-year-old pace-bowling all-rounder Suryansh Shedge, who plays domestic cricket for Mumbai and in the IPL for the Punjab Kings, has been named as Nitish Kumar Reddy’s replacement for the upcoming T20I series against Ireland and England. Reddy is out of action owing to a quadriceps injury.
Shedge recently was part of the India A team that won the A-team tri-series in Sri Lanka. There, he scored 147 runs at a strike rate of 120 while batting in the lower-middle order and bowled 23 overs. His pace-bowling attributes along with finishing abilities have made the selectors earmark Shedge as the backup option for Pandya and Reddy.
In the IPL 2026, Shedge was impressive for PBKS, scoring 158 runs in seven outings at an average of 39 and a strike rate of 175.
India will commence their tour of the UK on June 26 with a two-T20I rubber in Belfast against Ireland. Starting July 1, England will host India for five T20Is, which will be followed by a three-match ODI series from July 14.
India squad for T20I series Ireland and England:
Shreyas Iyer (C), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (VC), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (wk), Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Prince Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Suryansh Shedge, Prasidh Krishna
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