When Nitish Kumar Reddy was first brought into the Indian Test side, in Australia series last year, he was looked as a player who could bat at no. 7 or 8 in tough situations and score those bonus runs. Additionally, his pace bowling was supposed to be an answer to Hardik Pandya’s absence from the longest format.
Under-utilised Nitish Kumar Reddy
Mind you, this, when his FC numbers weren’t the most impressive — and now they stand at — 35 matches, 1317 runs at a batting average of 24, with two tons and three fifties. To go with that he has 66 wickets at an average of 29. These stats clearly show, what his stronger suit is.
And cut to November 2025, he is not able to perform with the bat for Team India, and not given to bowl mostly. In 9 matches, he has 386 runs with one ton, at an average of 29 (excluding Guwahati Test), and only 8 wickets where the average goes to 39. If we include IND vs SA Test, he bowled only four overs and was out for a poor 10 from 18.
| Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | Australia |
| 4.0 | 0 | 21 | 1 | Australia |
| 6.0 | 2 | 25 | 1 | Australia |
| 1.0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | Australia |
| 13.0 | 1 | 65 | 1 | Australia |
| DNB | – | – | – | Australia |
| 7.0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | Australia |
| 1.0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | Australia |
| 7.0 | 0 | 32 | 2 | Australia |
| 2.0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | Australia |
| 6.0 | 0 | 29 | 0 | England |
| DNB | – | – | – | England |
| 17.0 | 0 | 62 | 2 | England |
| 5.0 | 1 | 20 | 1 | England |
| 4.0 | 1 | 16 | 0 | West Indies |
| DNB | – | – | – | West Indies |
| DNB | – | – | – | West Indies |
| DNB | – | – | – | West Indies |
| 6.0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | South Africa |
One performance doesn’t make him a good/bad player, but is he really offering the value of an all-rounder to the team? Perhaps not. Batting at 7 & 8 is not the easiest thing to do, which reflects in his numbers, and he is just not bowling enough numbers. So, does the team management doesn’t trust him to do the job with the ball, or he is being seen as an all-rounder who can bowl a bit. Because, in both scenarios, it is quite baffling.
Team Management Needs to Back His Abilities
Leave alone his batting; he is not bowling, or not being made to bowl enough. Including the 2nd IND vs SA match, he has only bowled 82 overs. Which also raises another question, is he injured/carrying a niggle to bowl a lot? If one looks at all his bowling innings, he has only bowled over 10 overs twice in 14 innings. 8 times he has bowled five or under five overs, and in five, he has not bowled at all, despite playing. Just maybe, it could be the management call too, where they don’t want to rely on him, and only focus on the mainstream bowlers.
Team India is on the verge of a potential white-wash against South Africa as well, after the infamous one against New Zealand (0-3) in 2024, and his place/ and his utilisation should be serious questioned. Just to reiterate, Nitish Kumar Reddy is a good player, but his utilisation in the Test team is under question. It is the team management who needs to put a lot of faith in his abilities, if they want the results from him.
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