As India prepares for the second Test against West Indies at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, skipper Shubman Gill expressed strong support for Nitish Kumar Reddy’s long-term development. Gill praised the youngster’s talent and insisted on giving him more time in the middle, particularly in home conditions.
Nitish had limited involvement in the opening Test, where he didn’t get a chance to bat and bowled only a brief spell of four overs.
Gill Confident in Nitish’s Potential
Addressing the media before the match, Gill stated, “There have been conversations about that. We suffer a shortage of third-fourth seamers on tracks assisting pacers away from home. It would be unfair if we only play him overseas. Especially, we are not going to play in overseas conditions much over the next one and a half years, and it would mean not giving him many chances (if he only plays overseas). To be able to back a guy who can bowl 10-15 overs for us in a day and can bat as well. We saw how he batted in Australia, so there is definitely a lot of ability and a lot of potential in him.”
Nitish Kumar Reddy made headlines on his debut tour of Australia, where he scored 298 runs at 37.25, including a brilliant Boxing Day hundred. Alongside his batting, he picked up five wickets, making him one of India’s standout performers of the series. He followed that up with modest contributions in England — 45 runs and three wickets in two matches.
Gill further said, “So, we want to give him as much game time, especially in India and want to help him. And according to the match and according to the situation where we feel he can bat up the order or down the order, we will keep that in the mind.”
Balancing Game Time and WTC Goals
Gill acknowledged that giving Nitish chances is crucial, but the team’s ICC World Test Championship campaign remains the priority. India needs to secure valuable points to return to the WTC final after finishing second twice.
Jadeja’s All-Round Brilliance
The skipper also heaped praise on Ravindra Jadeja, whose all-round display powered India in the first Test. He was named Player of the Match for his hundred and four-wicket haul.
“A player like him, who can bat for you in test matches at number six. And we have seen how good the quality of his batting is on the spinning tracks. I think this is the reason why he is the number one all-rounder in the world at this time. So I think we are lucky to have him in our team. Everyone knows about his fielding. His throws, his catches, his intensity during fielding. Whenever he has the ball, we have seen many times that the batsmen do not go for that second run.”
Jadeja is enjoying a prolific year with the bat, scoring 659 runs in seven Tests at an average of 82.37. With two centuries and five fifties, he has been India’s backbone in the middle order. His bowling form has dipped slightly, but his overall impact remains immense.
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