Big boost for India ahead of Afghanistan T20Is as Nitish Kumar Reddy passes fitness test

Nitish Kumar Reddy (Image: IANS) NEW DELHI: All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has received the green signal from the BCCI medical staff and is set to join the rest of the Indian squad in the national capital on Thursday ahead of the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan starting on September 13, TimesofIndia.com can confirm.Reddy last played for India in the ODI series against Afghanistan earlier this year in June where he aggravated a left quadriceps injury. The 23-year-old first suffered a bowling injury in the first ODI in Dharamsala and was subsequently rested for the second match in Lucknow. Reddy returned for the third ODI in Chennai where he again experienced discomfort. He then missed India’s recent white-ball tour of Ireland and England due to injury.It is learned that Reddy underwent a fitness test last week after which he was selected for the Afghanistan series. On Wednesday, he underwent the final match simulation at the BCCI’s Center of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru, which he passed with flying colours. It is also clear that his bowling workload has ticked all the boxes and he seems ready for a longer grind as well.Reddy is also part of the Indian squad for the Asian Games, which begin on September 24. India had won the men’s gold medal at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou, China in October 2023. They were declared the winners on the basis of being the higher seeded team in the final against Afghanistan after the match was over.The Indian team will fly to the Asian Games from Delhi on September 18. Ahead of the start of the Asian Games, Team India will also play a lone T20I against Japan on September 22 at the Sano International Cricket Ground in Tochigi Prefecture.Indian Men’s T20I Team for Asian Games: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Sanju Samson (weekly), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (weekly), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Bushibrah, Singh.