New Delhi [India], October 9 : Ahead of the second Test against West Indies, Indian Test skipper Shubman Gill said that young all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has a "lot of potential and ability" in him and the team management wants to give him as much game time as possible, especially at home for his development following a breakout tour to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The second Test between India and the West Indies will take place at the Arun Jaitley Stadium from Friday onwards. One of the key issues heading into the contest is the game time 22-year-old Nitish will get. In the first Test, Nitish did not get to bat and got only four overs with the ball, conceding 16 runs.
During his debut series in Australia in Tests, NKR impressed one and all with his ability to take down the very best bowlers from ball one and play his attacking cricket unflinchingly, scoring 298 runs in nine innings at an average of 37.25, with a 114 during the Boxing Day Test being his crown jewel. He emerged as India's second-highest run-getter in the series and also chipped in with five wickets throughout the series in 44 overs he got to bowl.
On tour to England, Nitish scored 45 runs in four innings, with a best score of 30 and secured three wickets in two matches.
Speaking about giving Nitish some game time, Gill said during the pre-match presser, "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."
"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," he added.
Gill said that while giving game time to Nitish is important, so is the need to play the "best playing XI" for the valuable points that would help India land an ICC World Test Championship final qualification after missing out last time and ending runners-up twice.
The skipper was also all praises for veteran Ravindra Jadeja, terming the all-rounder's presence a "huge advantage". During the last Test, Jadeja secured the 'Player of the Match' honours with a century and a four-wicket haul to his name.
"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," he added.
Just ten runs shy of 4,000 Test runs, Jadeja is on fire this year with the bat, scoring 659 runs in seven Tests at an average of 82.37, with two centuries and five fifties in 13 innings and a best score of 107*. At the same time, his bowling average dipped to 53.45 due to a sub-par tour to England, where the pitches did not always assist him. Jadeja has taken 11 wickets in these seven Tests with two four-fers to his name. Boasting the batting statistics a pure batter would be envious of, Jadeja has been a force to be reckoned with this season and the upcoming home Tests this year and 2026 start would be really crucial.
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