Indian Cricket Team Changes for Asian Games: Vipraj Nigam Replaces Varun Chakravarthy

India’s leading spinner Varun Chakravarthy will miss both the only T20 international against Japan and the Asian Games 2026 due to injury. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has included leg-spin all-rounder Vipraj Nigam in the national squad for the first time as Varun’s replacement. India will advance directly to the quarterfinals in the Asian Games and could face Nepal if the latter finishes second in their group.

India had announced the team for the Asian Games earlier in May. However, after Varun sustained a side strain during the first T20 match against Afghanistan in Delhi, he was withdrawn from the final squad. The BCCI has given 24-year-old Vipraj Nigam his maiden call-up to the national team.

Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar Reddy has been removed from the Asian Games squad and assigned to the ODI series against West Indies. Vipraj Nigam earned recognition following his outstanding performance for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2025, where he took 11 wickets and contributed valuable runs across 14 matches. He also impressed in the India ‘A’ one-day triangular series in Sri Lanka this year, claiming seven wickets and scoring 116 runs, which helped secure him a spot in the national team.

With Varun absent, India is expected to rely on Akshar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi as their main spinners, while Washington Sundar and Vipraj Nigam serve as backup options. India will enter the Asian Games quarterfinals directly. If Nepal, in Group A alongside Afghanistan and Japan, secures second place, they could meet India in the quarterfinal stage.

Indian Squad for the Asian Games: Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Tilak Varma (Vice-Captain), Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Akshar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ishan Kishan, Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, Vaibhav Suryawanshi, Vipraj Nigam