Nitish ruled out of series, Arshdeep sidelined from 4th Test; Kamboj joins India team in Manchester

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 21 (ANI): The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday announced that young all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has been ruled out of the remaining two Tests against England owing to a left knee injury, while Arshdeep Singh, who is yet to earn his first Test cap, is sidelined for the fourth contest.
The BCCI confirmed, "Nitish will fly back home and the team wishes him a speedy recovery". With Nitish unavailable for the rest of the series, the Men's Selection Committee has added Haryana's pace spearhead and uncapped seamer Anshul Kamboj to the squad. Kamboj has joined the team in Manchester ahead of the fourth Test.
Meanwhile, Arshdeep sustained an impact injury to his left thumb while bowling in the nets at a training session in Beckenham. Currently, the BCCI Medical Team is monitoring his progress.
Nitish sat out in the series opener in Leeds and earned a spot in the final XI during the second and third Tests. He did not make much of an impact in Birmingham, with tallies of just two runs and six wicketless overs as India cruised to a 336-run victory with consummate ease.
However, he scythed vital top-order wickets at the Lord's Test. He removed England openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley in the same over in the first innings, and then dismissed Crawley again in the second. With the bat, he made contributions of 30 and 13 as India fell short at the 'Home of Cricket' with a heartbreaking 22-run defeat.
Kamboj, a 24-year-old right-arm seamer, is known for his ability to stick to traditional lengths and hit the deck hard to generate movement. He was part of the India A squad before for the two unofficial Tests against England Lions and impressed in the second in Northampton, scything four wickets, including two in a single over.
Not just with the ball, Kamboj exuded grit with the bat, stitching an unbeaten 149-run stand with Tanush Kotian in the same contest. In the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season, he scalped 34 wickets in six matches and finished as the leading wicket-taker in the 2024-25 Duleep Trophy.
He created history by becoming only the third Indian to take all ten wickets in an innings against Kerala. In First-Class cricket, Kamboj boasts 79 wickets in 24 matches at 22.88 while maintaining a strike rate of 44.2 and an economy of 3.10.
India's updated squad for fourth Test: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (VC & WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav, Anshul Kamboj. (ANI)