The promising young Suryansh Shedge has replaced indisposed all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy in India's squads for the T20I series against Ireland and England.
Nitish had reported discomfort in his left quadriceps after the third and final ODI against Afghanistan last Saturday. Following a medical assessment from the BCCI medical team, the seamer all-rounder was recommended a period of rehabilitation which ruled him out of the two and five T20Is in Ireland and England, respectively.
If it's a grade II injury, it will rule Nitish out for a minimum of four to six weeks, which could then affect his selection prospects for the tour of Sri Lanka. Last year, during the England tour, he was ruled out of the last two Tests due to left knee ligament injury.
Nitish's absence certainly provides Shedge with a fine opportunity of proving his mettle in the international circuit. Alongside the comfort of having his Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer as the India captain, Shedge, 23, will also be banking on the effectiveness he showed with the bat on certain occasions during this year's IPL and also in India 'A' colours in the just-concluded tri-series in Sri Lanka.
In the tri-series, Shedge, a hard-hitting batter who can also bowl, tallied 147 runs in five matches, averaging 36.75 with a highest score of 72 versus Sri Lanka 'A'. He also took two wickets in that series.