With assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate revealing that the think tank wants to give young Nitish Kumar Reddy a longer run as part of a long-term plan to build a seam-bowling all-rounder, India is unlikely to alter their winning combination for the second Test match against the West Indies, that starts on Friday in New Delhi.
“I’d say we’re unlikely to change the combination,” Ten Doeschate said on Wednesday.
“One of the objectives, one of the sort of medium-term objectives, is to develop a seam bowling all-rounder for India.”
Despite Reddy’s limited contribution in the previous Test, the team management is eager to keep him on board because of the long-term focus.
Although the 21-year-old Andhra player didn’t receive much attention last week, the coaching staff sees the series as a chance to develop his overall potential rather than evaluate him based on a single performance.
“It’s very important when we go away on tours that we have that position coming,” Ten Doeschate explained.
“We didn’t get a very good look at Nitish last week, so I think it’s actually a very good opportunity to give Nitish another go and not alter the balance of the team. We think he’s a fantastic seam bowling all-rounder.”
The former captain of the Netherlands acknowledged that physical stamina, more than technique, has frequently been the largest obstacle facing seam-bowling all-rounders in India.
“A bowler with all seam… I think the biggest sort of limitation to what he’s seen could be his body. He’s not the first all-rounder that we’ve seen in this country,” Ten Doeschate said.
“He’s perfect on his heart. He’s the same sort of character of player where we don’t doubt their skills at all, but for their bodies to hold up to play Test cricket is a different matter.”
Nitish was praised by Ten Doeschate for his batting prowess in Australia, describing him as “a quality all-rounder” with the temperament to thrive at the top level. Nitish had scored a fine hundred in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG in India’s last tour to Australia.
“Nitish, I think he’s shown everyone in Australia just how good he is as a batter,” he said.
“The challenge for him is going to be to make sure that he gets game time in between the away series.
“Like I answered the first question, I think a series like this where you look at the combinations, it’s more important to look ahead and see how he gets game time and a chance to develop his bowling. But the crux of your question is we really like him and we think he’s a quality all-rounder.”
With comparable skill levels, India’s spin department already has three options in Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, and Ravindra Jadeja.
Ten Doeschate admitted that Nitish finds it more difficult to regularly make the starting lineup because of this depth, but he also said that competition like this only serves to improve the overall level.
“Yeah, I mean the sort of lucky thing for us is Washi (Washington Sundar) and Jaddu and even Axar are pretty much the same sort of players we feel like, but anywhere from number five all the way through to eight,” he said.
“On the most recent evidence, Washi getting important runs in the UK, obviously Jaddu’s form in the last six months has been immense and unfortunately that means when Nitish does come back into the team after his injury, he fits in right at the back of the list and hence the reason why he got an eight.”
Ten Doeschate reaffirmed that versatility will be crucial for anyone aiming for a middle-order role while acknowledging that it was disappointing that Reddy didn’t get to contribute in either department during the opening Test, aside from a spectacular diving catch at square leg to dismiss Teganarine Chanderpaul.
“The only sort of downer from last week from that first Test was the fact that Nitish didn’t get to compete in any of the departments,” he said.
“But I think it’s also a strong message to the guys who are fighting for that spot that you need to be versatile, you need to be able to bat anywhere from number five all the way through to eight, and we feel that’s a good way so that they can perform in different scenarios and in different positions.”
Ten Doeschate summed up India’s unaltered lineup by saying that it’s about vision as much as continuity.
“We’re all disappointed that they’re not playing 6 or 7,” he added with a smile, “but that means that their cricket’s in a good space, so we’ll have to let that continue.”
