All-rounder Nitish Reddy not bowling a single over in the 2nd Test match against West Indies has baffled Aakash Chopra. Reddy, who played as the registered fast-bowling all-rounder in the side, did not get to roll his arm over despite India bowling 200 overs in a trot.
The Indian attack struggled in the Delhi heat after enforcing the follow-on against West Indies, and got dominated by the visitors on Day 4 of the Test match. Windies batted for 118.5 overs in the second innings, their best output with the bat in this tour. Twin centuries from John Campbell and Shai Hope made India toil as the visitors scored a total of 390 runs, setting India a 121-run target, despite being followed on.
As India struggled to dismiss the Windies batters, Shubman Gill made bowling changes at a rapid pace, hoping that one of the India bowlers would get him the breakthrough. What was baffling was that Nitish Reddy, who did well in both Australia and England, was never called on to bowl a single over.
As things stand, Nitish has batted for 54 balls and bowled a total of 4 overs in this Test series. He did not get to bat in the first Test match and was not given the ball in the second and final game of the series.
Delhi Test Day 4 Highlights | Scorecard
Former cricketer Aakash Chopra was asked on ESPNcricinfo about India’s use of Nitish Reddy. Chopra said that he had no clue why the Indian team was not keen on using Nitish’s bowling capabilities and whether this was a call from the captain or the coach of the Indian team.
“I have no idea. He did not bat in the previous game, he did not bowl in this game. Initially you understood that, but there came a point where the captain tried everyone, but nothing happened. So why not Nitish Reddy,” Aakash Chopra said.
“He is a batter who can bowl and is playing this match as an all-rounder. Him not bowling is baffling to me. That also puts a question mark on the selection. One Test match he gets slotted at 8. Then when he gets to bat at No.5 he does not bowl. Then the question ahead of the South Africa series becomes, what we do with that No.6 slot,” he added.
The former cricketer stated in strong words that there was no logic behind India’s decisions on Day 4 of the Test match, and that the team needed to manage themselves better on the field.
“In bowling-friendly conditions where wickets are not falling, the least you can do is give him a bowl. I don’t have an answer to the question of whether they are confused. Is it down to the coach or the captain, or maybe both? But logically, it does not make sense that Nitish did not bowl a single ball in the 2nd Test,” Chopra concluded.
West Indies batters put up an admirable fight on Day 4 of the Test match. After getting rolled over for the majority of the series, West Indies decided to dig deep and bat for a total of 118.5 overs. The Windies’ grit showed in their final wicket partnership as well, when Justin Greaves partnered No.11 Jayden Seales for 133 balls, and added a crucial 79 runs.
India came out to bat late on Day 4 and added 63 runs in 18 overs. Yashasvi Jaiswal was the only wicket to fall for India. The left-hander tried to take down the Windies attack but ended up handing a catch at long-on to Anderson Phillip in the second over of the final innings. After Jaiswal’s wicket, Sai Sudharsan and KL Rahul gathered runs steadily, helping India to 63/1 at the end of the day’s play.
The Indian team still need 58 runs to win on a pitch that kept perilously low on Monday.
– Ends