Gautam Gambhir justifies Shubman Gill’s decision not to bowl Nitish Kumar Reddy in Delhi Test vs West Indies

India national cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir has opened up on young all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy not getting the chance to play in the second Test match against the West Indies national cricket team.

Gautam Gambhir justified Shubman Gill’s decision not to use Nitish Kumar Reddy, saying that whether the player is an all-rounder or not does not matter as he has gained experience of playing a Test match in home conditions.

Nitish Kumar Reddy scored a good 43 runs against West Indies

The Andhra and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) all-rounder was part of India’s playing XI in both Test matches of the home series against the West Indies national cricket team.

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India registered a dominant 2-0 win over the visitors, but Nitish Kumar Reddy did not make any significant contribution to the win despite featuring in the matches.

In the opening match of the Test series at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Nitish Kumar Reddy bowled four overs in West Indies’ first innings and did not bowl in the second innings. He also did not get the opportunity to bat in India’s only innings. The only notable thing that Nitish Kumar Reddy did in the match was the amazing catch he made to send Tajinarine Chanderpaul.

As the action moved towards Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium, Nitish Kumar Reddy continued to be unused. In India’s first innings with the bat, the all-rounder slammed 43 runs, and after that, he just bowled.

India bowled 81.5 overs to bowl out West Indies for 248 and then forced a follow-on. The team led by Ruston Chase showed better performance in the innings and scored 390 runs in 118.5 overs. However, in both innings, Nitish Kumar Reddy was not given a chance to play.

Look, for me, I think it doesn’t matter how many times you bowl – Gautam Gambhir

Speaking at the post-match press conference in Delhi, Gautam Gambhir said Reddy has gained a lot of experience on the field despite not being able to play. He said:

“Look, for me, I think it’s not important how many times he bowls. It’s important that he gets experience, and he gets experience at home as well. Sometimes you learn a lot just by playing cricket as well. And it’s a Test match. And we don’t want to use a 23-year-old boy on tough tours away from home. It wouldn’t be fair to him, as we decide to play him only on an overseas tour, whether it’s Australia or South Africa or New Zealand or England. “I think when he does well abroad, he deserves to come home as well.”

Wherever we get the opportunity to put it in Indian conditions, we will continue to do so – Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir further said that using Reddy only for away matches would be unfair and they want to give him chances in Indian conditions as well. He said:

“And wherever we get the opportunity to put him in Indian conditions, we will continue to do that because it is important for us to prepare someone like Nitish because you know there are not many bowlers who watch from all angles. And we have talked for decades and decades about all bowlers. So whenever we get that opportunity, we will continue to prepare him,” he added.

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