India head coach Gautam Gambhir is delighted with the progression of Nitish Reddy as a fast-bowling all-rounder and said there is a strong possibility of him playing alongside Hardik Pandya once the star all-rounder is fit enough to bowl 10 overs in the 50-over format. Pandya, who has not played any cricket since May due to a quadriceps injury, was not picked for the upcoming ODI series against the West Indies as he is not in a position to bowl 10 overs.
He has also been withdrawn from the Asian Games T20 squad so that he can focus on ODIs.
We know how important seam bowling all-rounders will be, probably in a year’s time when we go to South Africa,” said Gambhir in the post-series media interaction. The role of a fast bowling all-rounder, a rare commodity in Indian cricket, has gained more significance ahead of the World Cup in South Africa next year. “No, first of all, from Nitish’s point of view, it’s actually a great thing that he’s been withdrawn from T20 format, and he’ll get game time against the West Indies as well.
Gambhir was happy with how Nitish bowled in his comeback T20 against Afghanistan, taking three wickets in the final game here on Thursday.
Nitish conceded 15 runs after he was asked to bowl the first over of Afghanistan innings on Thursday. “And when you can develop a couple of seam bowling all-rounders, it will always be handy in a year’s time (for World Cup). He bounced back to take three wickets in India’s handsome victory, and he had taken three wickets even in the second T20I.
Because he hasn’t played enough cricket since the IPL either, “In the meantime, Nitish will get more game time as well,. The head coach cautioned against rushing Pandya back to international cricket. The injury-prone all-rounder will have to prove his match fitness in the A series against Australia next month at Puducherry. “So, if he plays those, that India A series, obviously, he’ll get some game time as well. And that was the clear message to him, that if he can play that A series, and then if everything goes well, he can come back and be a part of the T20s and the one-day squad as well. Gambhir also thought that the scenario will help Nitish to get more game time. So, I think it’s good that we’ve got Nitish now from the Asian Games, and you could see, the more he bowls, the better he becomes.
