Mohammad Kaif opens up on Nitish Kumar Reddy being released from India squad ahead of IND vs SA 2025 1st Test

Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif said any player who gets injured has to prove his match fitness in domestic matches before he can join the national team once again. Indian all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy was ruled out of the T20I series against Australia and then he was released out of the Test squad before the opening game against South Africa.

Reddy will now play for India A in the One-Day series against South Africa A. He is expected to now join India’s Test squad ahead of the second Test against the Proteas. Similarly, Kaif highlighted that veteran fast bowler Mohammad Shami is playing in the Ranji Trophy to prove his match fitness to the selectors. 

“They don’t say it openly, but now whenever a player gets injured, they have to prove their fitness by playing some kind of match before they can get back into the squad. That’s the kind of talk happening behind the scenes. Why is Mohammad Shami playing Ranji Trophy? Because there are doubts about whether he’s fully fit. We only get partial reports, we don’t really know when he’s fit or not. That’s why Shami keeps playing Ranji again and again. So, any player making a comeback and whose fitness is in question, like Reddy recently, has to do the same,” Mohammad Kaif said on his YouTube channel.

The former Uttar Pradesh batter said India is going to play the duo of Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel together. Jurel has been in sublime form and recently returned with scores of 127 and 132 in the second unofficial Test match against South Africa A.

“Jurel played in England, he played against the West Indies and scored as well. Now when Pant is back and Reddy has gone, Reddy was there in the 11 in the last Test. He did not even bowl in the Test in Delhi. It is a straight forward swap that Pant will come for Reddy and Jurel will stay. I think Kuldeep will also have a big role against South Africa and you need to play him. I think the only change from the last Test will be Reddy goes out and Pant comes in,” he said.

The opening Test match between India and South Africa will be played at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, from November 14 onwards.