Vipraj Nigam replaces Varun Chakravarthy for Asian Games 2026

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has brought back their young spin all-rounder, Vipraj Nigam, in the Asian Games 2026 squad after their veteran spinner, Varun Chakravarthy, got ruled out of the competition due to an injury that he picked up during the three-match T20I series at home against Afghanistan.

Chakravarthy’s injury has been an eye-opener for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selectors and members about how often their players continue to get injured despite completing their recovery at the Centre of Excellence one after another.

Vipraj Nigam to replace Varun Chakravarthy in India's squad

Varun Chakravarthy, who was forced out of the T20I series against Afghanistan after picking up a side strain, is expected to be out of action for a significant time. That has brought young Nigam into the squad.

“Varun is out for an indefinite period of time. Vipraj Nigam and Kuldeep Yadav were the two available options from the long list. Kuldeep will play the West Indies ODIs later this month.” The BCCI source has reported to PTI on the development.

The 21-year-old has smashed 157 runs in 10 innings of the IPL at a strike rate of 176.40, out of which 142 runs came in eight innings at a blistering strike rate of 179.74 at the best score of 39 runs. He has picked up a total of 13 wickets, including his 11 wickets in the 2025 campaign.

Chakravarthy picked up the injury during the five-match T20I series against England. He gained full fitness at the BCCI CoE and returned for the opening T20I against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium before getting injured again.

How powerful does India look for a gold medal at Asian Games 2026?

India are the defending champions and enter both the men’s and women’s T20 tournaments at the quarter-final stage at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. The blue brigade will face the Japan side in the women’s game on September 18 at the Aichi Prefectural Korogi Sports Park, Nisshin. Their semifinal and final will be on September 20 and 22, respectively.

India will lock horns with the Group A runners-up in the quarter-final on September 28 in the men’s Asian Games at the same venue. The semifinals will be on October 01, while the final will be on October 03.

India’s men’s squad for Asian Games 2026-

Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Vipraj Nigam, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Thakur, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.