• Home
  • Who Said What
  • Why Was He Picked R Ashwins Blunt Take As India Drop Nitish Reddy For 1st Odi Vs Sa

"Why was he picked?": R Ashwin's blunt take as India drop Nitish Reddy for 1st ODI vs SA

Umesh Sharma

Nitish Kumar Reddy (Source: AFP)Nitish Kumar Reddy (Source: AFP)

Former Indian off-spin legend, Ravichandran Ashwin didn’t look visibly happy with the selection of the Indian team for the ongoing three-match ODI series against South Africa. Ashwin expressed his disagreement with the selection after the all-rounder Nitish Kumr Reddy could not make it to the playing XI for the first ODI against SA in Ranchi. 

Reddy was expected to be there in the playing XI as an all-rounder in the absence of Hardik Pandya, who is on his way to make a comeback, recovering from his Asia Cup injury. But, the Indian team management didn’t give Reddy a spot in the playing XI and ended up playing with another spin all-rounder in Washington Sundar. 

“Something wrong in squad selection” - Ravichandran Ashwin 

Management’s move to ignore Reddy didn’t go down well with Ashwin and he also went on to question the selection of the Andhra Pradesh all-rounder in the squad for ODIs against the Proteas. 

“If we are not able to find a place for Nitish Kumar Reddy in a team that does not have Hardik Pandya, then there is something wrong in the squad selection, seriously, “Why was he picked? Because the fact that he can give what Hardik can give, and can get better over a period of time. But, if we can’t find a place for Nitish Kumar Reddy in this particular XI, then the squad selection must be properly reviewed,” said Ashwin in a video on his YouTube channel. 

Notably, Reddy was also in India A’s squad for the unofficial One-Day games against South Africa. India A played these games against South Africa A just before the senior teams took on each other in the second and last Test of the two-match series in Guwahati.

After Reddy missing a spot in the first ODI’s playing XI, it becomes one of the very important questions if the coach and captain will invest a trust in him for the second ODI of the three-match series.