Nitish Kumar Reddy, Andhra Pradesh's all-rounder, is reportedly racing against time to get fit for the upcoming three-match ODI series against England. India will play three ODIs against England starting July 14, after a five-T20I series.

Nitish was part of India’s squad for the Afghanistan ODIs and suffered an injury to his left quadriceps. He clocked into the BCCI's Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru for rehab and recovery and was ruled out of the T20I series against Ireland and England.

And now, as per the Times of India report, Nitish has not yet started his rehabilitation, and the BCCI medical team has recommended a prolonged period of rest. He hasn't played since the third ODI against Afghanistan in Chennai, even though the quad injury is thought to be mild.

The management is keeping a careful eye on his development and is hopeful that he will return to the club sometime next month. The Zimbabwe T20Is might be the sensible choice for a return to competitive cricket, as the likelihood of that occurring in England is now very low.

In his absence, India had to give Suryansh Shedge his T20I debut in Ireland, and the youngster will also be part of the Indian squad for the England T20Is as well.

The report further stated that the Indian team will assemble in England for the ODI series in batches. Some players, including wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul and skipper Shubman Gill, are probably going to arrive early to start getting ready. Before the first match in Birmingham, the others could join the team before July 12.

India’s first ODI will be played in Birmingham on July 14; the second game will be played on July 16 in Cardiff, and the final ODI will be played on July 19 at Lord’s.

India squad for England ODIs:

Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (Vice-Captain), KL Rahul (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar