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Indian all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has been withdrawn from the national team for the upcoming first Test against South Africa, scheduled to be held at Kolkata's Eden Gardens starting Friday. Instead, he will participate in a series of three one-day matches between India A and South Africa A from November 13 to 19.

BCCI's Official Announcement

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed the news, stating, "All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has been released from India's squad for the first Test against South Africa. He will join the India A team for the One-day series against South Africa A in Rajkot. The matches are set to take place from November 13 to 19 at the Niranjan Shah Stadium."

Reddy's Recent Performance

Reddy is expected to rejoin the Test squad for the second match following the conclusion of the 'A' series. His last appearance in the Test format was against the West Indies at home, where he went wicketless in a four-over spell in Ahmedabad and scored 43 runs in Delhi. Over nine Test matches, he has accumulated 386 runs at an average of 29.69, including one century, and has taken eight wickets at an average exceeding 39.

Last ODI Performance

In his most recent outings for India during the ODI series against Australia, Reddy scored 19* and 8 in two matches held in Perth and Adelaide, respectively, without claiming any wickets.

Coaching Insights on Team Strategy

During a pre-match press conference, Indian assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate suggested that Reddy's absence was anticipated, as the team is keen to explore the combination of Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel, two prominent wicketkeepers playing together for the first time. He stated, "Strategy comes first. The primary goal is to devise a strategy to win the game. If we can provide opportunities for development, that is a bonus. Our stance on Nitish remains unchanged. He did not have much game time in Australia, and considering the significance of this series and the expected conditions, he might miss out this week."

Updated Squads India's Squad for the First Test

Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (WK) (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep

India A's Squad for the One-Day Series

Tilak Varma (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Ishan Kishan (WK), Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Vipraj Nigam, Manav Suthar, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy.