The Indian management isn’t pleased with Nitish Kumar Reddy. The all-rounder hasn’t been a mainstay in any of the formats. In fact, apart from Test cricket, the 22-year-old has appeared for India sporadically. Despite keeping all of this in mind, the management feels Nitish has been a letdown.
Team India unhappy with Nitish Reddy
India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate wasn’t pleased with Nitish’s performance in Rajkot against New Zealand. The all-rounder came out to bat in the 39th over and stitched a 57-run stand with KL Rahul. However, he couldn’t finish the game and departed in the 47th over.
The former Netherlands cricketer stated that India keeps picking Nitish, with the aim to develop him as Hardik Pandya’s future replacement, and he underperforms time and again. Ryan further stated that Nitish hasn’t made a strong selection case for himself, which suggests that he could be dropped for the last ODI in Indore.
“With Nitish, we keep talking about developing him and getting him game time. Then, when you do get him game time, he often ends up not doing a heck of a lot in the games. For someone who’s making their way, particularly with the bat tonight, it was that perfect chance where you’re walking in that situation, and you’ve got a chance to spend 15 overs at the wicket. You really have to take those chances to push your case to be selected,” ten Doeschate said in the post-match press conference.
Should’ve played Ayush Badoni, says ten Doeschate
But this wasn’t the end. Ryan called playing Nitish, a pace-bowling all-rounder, over Ayush Badoni, a spin-bowling all-rounder, a mistake. Although Indian spinners didn’t perform to the expected level, the New Zealand spinner bowled exceptionally well. Nitish ended up bowling just 2 overs, while someone like Badoni could’ve been used more by Shubman Gill.
“If you look at the combinations we have played in the past, we do like the extra spinner. To bring Ayush into the squad at the very last minute with Washi going down in the (last) game, we thought Nitish should be better suited on this track. Looking at the way the New Zealand spinners bowled, we could have done (it) with another spinner. We’re always trying to win every game, with sort of managing the medium to long-term prospects of the team as well. But yeah, it’s certainly something we need to get back to, to guys really fearing coming in and playing India,” he added.
