Gambhir publicly backed Nitish earlier.
India will be forced to bench Nitish Kumar Reddy for the upcoming Test series against South Africa. Recently, Gautam Gambhir emphasised the importance of grooming a pace-bowling all-rounder for overseas tours, but the experiment will take a back seat for now.
In the press conference leading up to the game, India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate confirmed that Dhruv Jurel will be in the XI despite Rishabh Pant’s return after his batting heroics in the West Indies and South Africa A series. He also confirmed that Nitish will sit out, even though he remains in the team’s plans.
“Given the way Dhruv has gone in the last six months, and scoring two hundreds (against South Africa A) in Bangalore last week, he is certain to play this week. But I would say, given the importance of this series and given the conditions we think we are going to face, he (Nitish Kumar Reddy) might miss out in this Test this week.”
During the West Indies series, Dhruv Jurel hit a magnificent ton while playing as a wicketkeeper-batter in Pant’s absence. He carried his good form in the South Africa A series, hitting twin centuries in precarious situations, to stamp his authority and force the management to give him a spot in the XI despite having Pant back.
India’s need for a pace-bowling all-rounder prompted them to use Nitish Kumar Reddy at home, even when the team had multiple bowling options. Obviously, he is capable enough to play as a batter alone, but his batting requires ample improvement, and so does his bowling.
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For that, Nitish must play as many games as possible, but fitting him in home Tests can be challenging due to the pitch conditions and team dynamics. They tried him against the West Indies, where he scored 43 runs in his only innings and bowled only four overs across two Tests.
His usage was improper, but it also confirmed why India don’t need him for home games, at least in Washington Sundar’s presence. Washington does the job more often, and pacers are skilled enough to exploit the conditions at home, with the likes of Akash Deep tailor-made for Indian pitches.
Then, Jurel has been too good to ignore every time he has batted and deserves a spot in the XI, maybe as a wicketkeeper-batter, with Pant solely as a batter. Nitish Kumar Reddy has the skills, but the current resources and dynamics don’t create a room for him at home.
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