India have been forced into two changes to their cricket squad for the Asian Games 2026, with Varun Chakaravarthy ruled out through injury and Nitish Kumar Reddy withdrawn from the team.
Varun Chakaravarthy will miss both the upcoming T20I against Japan and the Asian Games after suffering a side strain. Uncapped all-rounder Vipraj Nigam was named as his replacement.
Nitish Kumar Reddy, meanwhile, was originally included in the 15-member Asian Games cricket squad but has been withdrawn and will instead feature in India’s ODI series against the West Indies.
Varun was also ruled out of the ongoing T20I series against Afghanistan after suffering the injury in the first game.
The 35-year-old legbreak bowler had only returned to the national side after recovering from a hamstring injury prior to the Afghanistan series.
Varun Chakravarthy now becomes the second Indian to be ruled out of India’s Asian Games squad due to injury.
Fast bowler Harshit Rana, who was also named in India’s initial 15-member squad for the Asian Games, was ruled out of the tournament with a rectus femoris strain earlier this month. Yash Thakur was announced as his replacement.
Fifth in the men’s T20I bowling rankings, Varun Chakravarthy is currently India’s highest-ranked bowler.
The 22-year-old Vipraj Nigam has played 33 matches in the T20 format. He has featured in 19 matches for the Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League.
Defending champions India will begin their Asian Games campaign in the men’s competition against the Group A runners-up in the quarter-finals on September 28.
Shreyas Iyer will captain India at the Asian Games, with Tilak Varma serving as his deputy. Teenage prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah are also part of the squad.
India squad for Asian Games 2026
Indian cricket team: Shreyas Iyer (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (vc), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Vipraj Nigam, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yash Thakur.
