India positioning Nitish Kumar Reddy as long-term Hardik Pandya successor

India pulled Nitish Kumar Reddy from the Asian Games T20I squad and straight into the ODI side against West Indies. The move signals they're already lining him up as Hardik Pandya's long-term replacement.

Pandya hasn't played an ODI since the Champions Trophy final. A shin injury ruled him out of the New Zealand tour. Head coach Gautam Gambhir said the early call-up gives Nitish game time ahead of the 2027 World Cup in South Africa.

Nitish has just six ODIs behind him and is still working on his all-round game, but the selectors aren't treating him as a stop-gap.