Nitish Reddy against West Indies (Source: AFP)
India, a country with rich cricketing talent, has struggled over the years to produce quality seam-bowling all-rounders. Hardik Pandya is one of the rare players with that skillset who has been successful at the international level for India. However, fitness has been an issue for him, and that has kept him away from Test cricket since 2018.
Since then, India have tried to fit in Shardul Thakur into that role and he did decently as well. However, his stocks have gone down in the last couple of years and now India are trying Nitish Reddy in that role.
Generally, there is no need for India to play seam-bowling all-rounders in home conditions with pitches assisting spinners. However, the new management made some bold statements recently about backing Nitish Reddy in home conditions, and even Shubman Gill stated that it would be unfair to him to play him only overseas.
There were also remarks that India would be looking to give him more game-time both with the bat and ball. So, looking at those statements, it seems that India are quite serious about grooming Nitish Reddy and want to make him a genuine all-rounder in red-ball format.
So, is this progressive-looking India's plan to make Nitish Reddy an invaluable asset in Test cricket, reflecting on the field? Let's find out.
How have India used Nitish Reddy as a batter in Test cricket?
Nitish Reddy's stronger suit, without doubt, is his batting. In his short career so far, he has shown the potential to score runs in tough conditions with a century against Australia at MCG. In nine Test matches, he has batted in 14 innings, which is quite decent for an all-rounder, but the problem has been his batting position.
Out of his 14 innings, only twice has Nitish Reddy batted over number seven. He has batted on four occasions at number eight, while he has also batted once at number nine. Thus, he has rarely had an opportunity to bat with proper batters despite a century in MCG, and as a batting all-rounder, one expects him to bat at least at number six for India.
| Innings | Batting Positions |
| Number Five | 1 |
| Number Six | 1 |
| Number Seven | 5 |
| Number Eight | 3 |
| Number Nine | 1 |
It is still early days for India, and in the Delhi Test against the West Indies, India did promote him to number five, which is a positive sign. Nitish Reddy also responded with a solid 43, which shows that he can do well if given a chance to bat a bit higher. Overall, though, Nitish Reddy has batted a bit down the order than his ideal position should be as a batting all-rounder.
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How have India used Nitish Reddy as a bowler in Test cricket?
Nitish Reddy has played seven out of his nine Tests in England and Australia. These are the countries where a team requires a seam-bowling all-rounder, and in total, Reddy bowled 76 overs on these two tours.
In England, Nitish Reddy has bowled 28 overs in two Test matches, which is a decent performance compared to what he bowled in Australia. In Australia, he bowled an average of 8.8 overs per Test match, which, as a seam-bowling all-rounder, is quite low in those conditions.
Distribution of Nitish Reddy's overs in Test cricket
| County-wise | Matches | Overs | Overs/Match |
| England | 2 | 28 | 14 |
| Australia | 5 | 44 | 8.8 |
| India | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Overall | 9 | 76 | 8.4 |
However, the bigger issue is how Shubman Gill is using him as a bowler in the series against the West Indies at home. All the talk of giving game time to Nitish Reddy seems to be going out of the window as the all-rounder bowled just four overs in the first Test against the West Indies and now has not been given a single over in the Delhi Test.
Thus, it raises questions over India's seriousness in grooming Nitish Reddy as an all-rounder. India have dominated both the Tests, and though conditions are more helpful for spinners, giving some overs to Nitish Reddy would have given him much-needed confidence as a bowler.
West Indies are following-on in the second Test, and if Shubman Gill does not trust his designated all-rounder to bowl a single over in such a situation, then it is pretty tough to imagine him getting to bowl when the match is closer.
Also, if Shubman Gill doesn't trust Nitish Reddy to bowl, then just keeping him in the playing XI seems to be a waste of resources. Instead, India can go with Axar Patel in home conditions as he is a capable batter too with an average of close to 40 in India in Test cricket and 47 wickets in just 12 Tests. Playing Axar would also help him get more game time and he would be ready with experience on his side once Ravindra Jadeja hangs his boots from the format.
Conclusion:
Therefore, if India really want to groom Nitish Reddy as an all-rounder, they need to be more brave in how they are using him. He needs to be put in uncomfortable positions both with the bat and ball, and India should be ready to face some adverse consequences if things go wrong. If India continues to play safe, it would not be fair for both Nitish Reddy and a player sitting outside because of him and could be detrimental in the long-term.
