The second Test will commence on November 22 in Guwahati.
The Shubman Gill injury episode has added to the Indian woes ahead of the second Test against South Africa in Guwahati. The Indian skipper is not expected to feature in the contest, and will not be flying to the venue with the team. However, the hosts have added all-rounder Nitish Reddy back to the Test squad for the second Test. The 22-year-old is expected to fly to Guwahati with the team.
Just before the first Test, Nitish Reddy was released from India’s white-ball duties for that game. The all-rounder was sent to Rajkot to participate in India A’s white-ball series against South Africa A. That being said, Nitish has been called back to the national side on the back of the Shubman Gill injury concerns, which will trouble India, if not managed efficiently.
The Indian side, led by head coach Gautam Gambhir are currently on the receiving end of a lot of criticism from fans and experts for their debacle in the first Test at Kolkata. Though the pitch remained a constant point of debate, it was also down to the team selection made by the management that raised quite a few eyebrows.
Right since the beginning of his tenure, Gautam Gambhir has made his intentions very clear about strengthening the team’s batting through all-rounders who can bat, rather than going for specialists of the skillset. The management chose Washington Sundar to bat at No.3 over Sai Sudharsan, who was made to sit out from the playing XI in the first Test.
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For a player that was constantly playing all the three formats, an injury could have always been round the corner. Though the cause of the injury is yet to be ascertained, it would not be in the best interests to draw conclusions. But it is a known fact that the Indian Test and ODI skipper has been playing a lot of cricket, switching between formats lately.
The return of Nitish Reddy is a positive news for the side, but it does not solve a lot of their problems. The hosts are on the verge of providing yet another spin-friendly track in Guwahati for the second Test, which will only escalate their problems even more. On a spin-friendly track, the chances of Nitish Reddy to feature in India’s XI look grim.
Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar wrote about the same in his column. He stated that the management needs to understand the difference between a Test all-rounder and a limited overs all-rounder. According to Gavaskar, a player who can do a bit of both bowling and batting will not be very handy in the longest format, even though it might look tempting in the short-term.
“Picking someone who cannot find a place simply as a batter or purely as a bowler may work in the short term, but it does not add value to the team,” opined Sunil Gavaskar in his latest piece.
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