Ten years from now, the enduring image from the Ahmedabad Test might still be Nitish Kumar Reddy hovering in mid-air, full length to his left at square leg, snatching a firm pull from Tagenarine Chanderpaul. It was India’s first wicket of West Indies’ second innings, and it was spectacular. After that, though, Reddy’s contributions all but vanished. Four first-innings overs with the new ball, none in the second dig, and no chance to bat because India declared on 448 for 5 first thing on the third morning.
That can happen in a crushing win, especially to a player whose skills are not always essential on slow, low home surfaces. Still, the management want Reddy playing Tests now so that, in two or three years, he is ready to balance the side abroad.
“I’d say we’re unlikely to change the combination,” India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said two days out from the Delhi Test. “One of the sort of medium-term objectives is to develop a seam-bowling allrounder for India, because it’s very important when we go away on tours that we have that position covered.”
He added, “We didn’t get a very good look at Nitish last week, so I think it’s a very good opportunity to give Nitish another go and not alter the balance of the team.”
Eight Tests in, the 22-year-old has already shown his ceiling with the bat. On the 2024-25 trip to Australia he top-scored with 41, 42 and 42 when the rest struggled, then followed up with a maiden hundred at the MCG. The bowling is a step behind, but he did prise out top-order players in both Australia and England last year.
“We think he’s a fantastic seam-bowling allrounder, a batter who bowls seam,” ten Doeschate said. “I think the biggest limitation to what his ceiling could be is going to be his body. He is not the first allrounder we’ve seen in this country whom that applies to; to be perfectly honest, Hardik [Pandya]’s in the same sort of character of player where we don’t doubt their skills at all but for their bodies to hold up to Test cricket is a different matter.”
Those familiar durability concerns explain why India are so keen to get overs into Reddy now. “Nitish, I think he showed everyone in Australia how good he is as a batter; I think the challenge for him is going to be to make sure that he gets game time in between away series. In a series like this, when you look at the combination, it’s more important to look ahead and see how we can fit him in to make sure that he does get game time and time to develop his bowling. We really like him, we think he’s a quality allrounder.”
The dilemma, of course, is India’s surfeit of spin-bowling all-rounders. Three of them are in the squad for West Indies, two genuine first-choice in home conditions. Despite that, the selectors remain convinced a seam option who can bat in the top seven will be priceless at Lord’s, Cape Town or Christchurch.
For now, then, Delhi’s pitch – usually dry, sometimes a bit two-paced – is unlikely to change the XI. Reddy’s bowling may again be peripheral, yet each spell matters. India are gambling that the learning he does now, even in a supporting role, will pay off handsomely when the ball swings and seams overseas.
