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Indian spinner Axar Patel in action. (Photo: Reuters)
While the Indian team management showed faith in all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy for the all-rounder role in the Test series against West Indies, which India won 2-0, Reddy only bowled four overs in the entire series. The 22-year-old, who batted and bowled in only one innings each, did not bowl in the second Test in New Delhi, a match India won by seven wickets. With spin all-rounder Axar Patel also in the squad, former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has questioned the move to play Reddy, stating that Axar has performed better in the all-rounder role.
“If this is Nitish Reddy’s role, I feel you can play a specialist batter or a bowler. You could play Axar Patel. What less has he done? Axar Patel has been a match-winner both with the ball and the bat over the last few years. When does Nitish Reddy come into play? I am not saying you play an extra bowler; I am saying you play a specialist batter only. The reason why I talk about Axar Patel is because Axar has done much better than Nitish in this role,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel ‘Ash ki Baat’.
Axar Patel last played a Test match for India last year, featuring in the second Test against England in their five-match series. While India has persisted with Ravindra Jadeja and given chances to Kuldeep Yadav, Ashwin believes that Patel could be played in place of Reddy when wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant returns to the Test squad after recovering from his injury. The former Indian spinner also thinks the team management needs to better define Reddy’s role.
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“Axar has done so well in batting. He has batted really well and I think Axar Patel has one of the best defences against spin. When does Nitish Reddy come in? If you have to play one bowler between (Mohammed) Siraj and (Jasprit) Bumrah and you are playing on a slightly turning wicket, a slow, low surface, then Nitish Reddy can become your second seamer and a batter. You will get batting depth. Otherwise, I don’t see the point. When Rishabh Pant is back, you can play Axar Patel instead of Nitish Reddy. And bring Nitish Reddy in if you are playing only one fast bowler. That gives you batting balance and spin balance. If you feel you have too many spinners, then leave Axar out and play Dhruv Jurel as a specialist batsman. I think Nitish is a fine batter, but I feel there could be a little bit more role definition there,” said Ashwin.
India will next play a Test match in November when South Africa visits for a two-match series. Captain Shubman Gill had explained the reasoning behind playing Nitish Kumar Reddy against West Indies. “He (Nitish) didn’t really get to bowl in this match. We don’t want players to only play matches overseas. That puts a lot of pressure on the players. We want to groom certain players that we think can help us win matches overseas because that’s been a challenge for us,” Gill had said after the win in Delhi.
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