Why is Rinku Singh not playing today's IND vs ENG 2025 2nd T20I?

Dynamic Team India batter Rinku Singh won't be in action during the side's ongoing second T20I of the five-match series against England on Saturday, January 25. The match is being played at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Rinku is unavailable for the second and third T20Is of the rubber due to a lower back spasm. He sustained the injury while fielding in the opening encounter of the series at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

It remains to be seen if the southpaw will be able to regain full fitness for the last two matches of the series. Announcing that Rinku has been ruled out of the second and third T20Is, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared an official statement that read:

"Rinku Singh sustained a low back spasm while fielding in the 1st T20I against England on 22nd January. He is progressing well and the BCCI medical team is monitoring him closely. He is ruled out of the 2nd and 3rd games of the ongoing 5-match T20I series."

It is worth mentioning that apart from Rinku Singh, all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has also been sidelined due to an injury. The youngster suffered a side strain during practice and has been ruled out of the series. The selectors have added all-rounders Shivam Dube and Ramandeep Singh to the squad.

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Who has replaced Rinku Singh in India's playing XI for the second T20I vs England?

Rinku Singh did not get a chance to bat in the T20I series opener against England. After being asked to bat first, the visitors were bowled out for 132. Skipper Jos Buttler was the lone warrior with a crucial 68-run knock.

Varun Chakravarthy claimed three wickets while Arshdeep Singh bagged two scalps for the hosts. India chased down the target in just 12.5 overs, securing a seven-wicket victory and taking a 1-0 lead in the series.

With Rinku and Nitish Kumar Reddy unavailable for the second T20I, the team management replaced them with spin-bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar and keeper-batter Dhruv Jurel.

India won the toss and chose to field first on Saturday. Here are the playing XIs for the match:

IND: Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy.

ENG: Ben Duckett, Philip Salt(w), Jos Buttler(c), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.