Nitish Kumar Reddy

And, uh, I think they're progressing well, and they should be able to pass the fitness test and be available for the series." And now what's happened in the last few months that multiple times those guys haven't made it.

Uh, so you've picked a team, keeping in mind the feedback that you've got from the Center of Excellence that, okay, let's say, you know, Nitish Kumar Reddy will be fit in time or this.

And you've picked a squad because you have to balance the squad, and the squad is announced.

And then you're three days away from the tour, or four days, and say, "No, he's not passed the test." Now you've got to-

So, Yash Thakur took the place behind Bumrah.

Interestingly, Nitish Kumar Reddy was preferred to open the bowling because of, I think, the swing they anticipated and he didn't let India down.

So, he gave India that wonderful start, right? And because they couldn't score off him or Bumrah, then the wicket started falling the moment Akshar Patel came in.

So, Akshar Patel, like, took a bunch of wickets at the start.

Shivam Dubey looks out of source completely with the ball.

I think Nitish Kumar already looked a little out of source the first game, but he came back well in the second and third game, albeit in situations where India were on top.

Yes.

Right? And so, again, how much can you take out of that? Because you need one or a combination of the two to be able to bowl in the first 10 or maybe even one or two overs in the power play, right? Because India are going in with two main fast bowlers and then they're relying on these, call them all-rounders, right? Mostly, I would say, I would argue batting all-rounders.

Yes.

The BCCI had to pull Nitish Kumar Reddy from the Asian Games squad just to slot him into this ODI team.

When you combine the highly specific microcycles of rest dictated by modern sports science with overlapping international tournaments, managing a national squad turns into this incredibly complex spreadsheet optimization problem.

Well, speaking of calculated strategies meant to disrupt the playing field, Washington is deploying a massive new economic weapon.

And it includes Jasprit Bumrah, who picked up an injury during the limited overs tour of England in July.

Now he'll be back representing India alongside Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana and Washington Sundar, all of whom are set to return to this T20 squad against Afghanistan in Delhi this month.

The Japan Cricket Association has responded to the concerns that were raised around the options for accommodation that were offered in the lead up to the Asian Games which are being hosted in Japan.

Japan Cricket Association CEO Naoki Alex Mejiahi has said, quote, The ACC has been discussing accommodation options with the AINAGOC for a long time.