Former Indian selector Kris Srikkanth once made vile accusations against Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir for prioritizing the selection of Harshit Rana across all formats; However, Rana has gradually earned a reputation for himself with his recent performances. Therefore, the former World Cup winner has directed his scathing attack towards batting all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy.
India’s selection for the New Zealand ODI has been scrutinized by many cricket experts. Now, one of India’s biggest recent critics, Kris Srikkanth has once again expressed his disapproval over India’s team selection.
However, the former World Cup winner, like everyone else, has not questioned the non-selection of CSK batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad, and has no objection to the inclusion of Yashasvi Jaiswal or Rishabh Pant. He has a new target which he again claims to be unfair selection by the Indian selectors.
Kris Srikkanth questions Nitish Kumar Reddy’s inclusion for New Zealand ODI
Srikkanth was in the news when he criticized Gautam Gambhir for supporting Harshit Rana in all formats ahead of India’s tour of Australia. However, with his stellar performances, Srikkanth was forced to acknowledge Rana’s rising prominence in Indian limited overs cricket.
However, this time, ahead of the home series against New Zealand, Kris Srikkanth is standing up and questioning the inclusion of batting all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy in the Indian ODI squad. The Andhra captain has been chosen as a replacement for all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who has been rested due to ICC T20 World Cup workload.
“I’m not sure what Nitish Kumar Reddy has done. How is he seen as an all-rounder? He won’t be given the ball at all because teams will hit him everywhere. I don’t understand the logic behind it. How is he a replacement for Hardik Pandya? Hardik Pandya can only play in the 11 as a bowler or batsman and also as a fielder,” Srikkanth reacted to Nitish Reddy’s selection on his YouTube channel. Hui said.
He said, “At the same time, can Nitish Kumar Reddy fit into the team as a pure bowler? Will you give him three or four overs in a row? Even if he has to bowl only five or six overs, how will he do that? There is no chance of that.”
Srikkanth pointed towards Akshar Patel’s sudden exclusion from ODI.
Kris Srikkanth never stopped blaming the Indian selectors for not picking some of the most deserving players. Although he did not comment on Ruturaj Gaikwad being dropped from the Indian team, he raised questions on Axar Patel being suddenly dropped.
Axar Patel gradually developed into an important all-rounder for India in limited overs cricket when he was promoted to the middle order during the tour of Australia. However, he has been dropped from the South Africa and New Zealand ODI series.
Chris Srikkanth believes that India could have chosen Axar Patel in place of Reddy, who has given many extraordinary efforts for India in the past.
“I don’t know how they keep pushing him as an all-rounder. I’m also not sure his track record in domestic cricket is that good. Instead of Nitish Kumar Reddy, they could have picked Axar Patel.
Chris Srikkanth said (via the above source), “He is also an all-rounder and is the vice-captain in T20Is. What mistake did Axar Patel make? He has been very good and consistent. All of a sudden, you have dropped him from the team.”
India has selected three all-rounders for New Zealand ODI
India have ideally chosen three all-rounders in the ODI squad, two of whom are spin-bowling all-rounders in Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, and one is a seam-bowling all-rounder in Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Ravindra Jadeja is the undisputed veteran of the game in India, and Sundar is the backup to both Kuldeep Yadav and Jadeja in the team. However, Reddy has performed very poorly with the bat and has been very expensive with the ball in his short ODI career.
The 22-year-old didn’t have amazing numbers in the domestic competitions either, as he couldn’t score 150 runs in 5 innings and took 6 wickets at a very high economy rate.
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