India head coach Gautam Gambhir explained the Shubman Gill-led side's decision not to give bowling to young fast-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy in the second Test match against the West Indies at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
Reddy, who made his comeback after recovering from an injury he got in England during the five-Test match series of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025, was included in India's playing XI but didn't bowl a single delivery across both innings. He batted in the first innings where the young star scored 43 off 54 deliveries, laced with four boundaries and two maximums.
Why did Nitish Kumar Reddy not bowl in the 2nd Test vs West Indies?
Gambhir explained the reason behind the limited utilisation of Nitish during the Test and feels the focus shouldn't fall on the number of overs he has bowled; instead, the emphasis should be on the experience he has gained on the field.
"Look, for me, I think it's not important how many overs he's bowled. It's important that he's gaining experience, gaining experience at home as well. Sometimes you learn a lot just by playing a game of cricket as well. And it's a test match. And we don't want to use a 23-year-old boy just on tough tours away from home. That's not going to be fair on him, that we decide to play him only in overseas tour, be it Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, or England. I think when he's done well overseas, he deserves a go in home conditions as well," Gambhir said.
Why BCCI need to room someone like Nitish?
Gambhir further stated that the management needs to groom someone like Nitish Kumar Reddy because there are limited fast bowling all-rounder in the Indian setup.
"And wherever we can get the opportunity to put him in Indian conditions, we'll continue to do that because it's important for us to groom someone like Nitish because you know that there are not many seen bowling all-rounders. And we've spoken for decades and decades about seam bowling all-rounders. So whenever we'll get that opportunity, we'll keep grooming him," he added.
Notably, Nitish Kumar Reddy will now be in action in the upcoming white-ball series against Australia, which is scheduled to start from October 19. Team India will to play a three-match ODI series followed by a five-match T20I series against Australia.