Indian mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy has been ruled out of the one-off T20I against Japan and the 2026 Asian Games due to a side strain. Delhi Capitals leg-spin all-rounder Vipraj Nigam has been named as his replacement for both events. Reason for Absence: Chakravarthy sustained a side strain during the 1st T20I against Afghanistan in Delhi shortly after returning from a hamstring injury. He was subsequently ruled out for an indefinite period and sent to the BCCI Centre of Excellence for assessment.   Maiden Call-Up: The 22-year-old Vipraj Nigam earns his first national call-up following strong performances for Delhi Capitals in the IPL, where he has picked up 13 wickets in 19 matches and boasts a T20 strike rate above 170.   Additional Squad Changes: Nitish Kumar Reddy was also withdrawn from the Asian Games roster to feature in India's upcoming ODI series against the West Indies.   Asian Games Outlook: India, led by Shreyas Iyer, enter the Asian Games men's cricket competition directly in the quarter-finals starting September 28 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. India's updated squad for the Japan T20I and Asian Games Shreyas Iyer (capt), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (vice-capt), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yash Thakur, Vipraj Nigam