Former Indian national cricket team player Kris Srikkanth has urged head coach Gautam Gambhir to drop young fast bowler all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy from the ODI playing eleven.
Kris Srikkanth said that Andhra and Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy does not deserve to be a part of India’s ODI playing eleven due to inept bowling.
Nitish Kumar Reddy’s performance against Australia is yet to come
All-rounder Reddy is being groomed by the selection committee and team management to become the next Hardik Pandya or even better.
Reddy has been given opportunities in all three formats of the game, and is highly regarded by the Indian coaching staff, which is led by Gautam Gambhir.
He was part of India’s playing eleven in both the matches of the recent home Test series against West Indies, but did not make any major contribution as he did not get a chance to bat or bowl.
Apart from this, Nitish Kumar Reddy was a part of India’s playing eleven in the first two ODIs against Australia but has not been able to perform well so far.
In the opening match of the ODI series in Perth, Reddy scored 19* and returned with figures of 0/16 in 2.1 overs. Meanwhile, in the second ODI in Adelaide, he scored just 8 runs and returned with figures of 0/24 from 3 overs.
Kuldeep will have to play. I am not sure whether they will remove Nitish Kumar Reddy or anyone else – Kris Srikkanth
In a video shared on his official YouTube channel, Kris Srikkanth urged the Gautam Gambhir-led team management to bring Kuldeep Yadav into the playing eleven and drop Reddy for the Sydney ODI against Australia.
The 1983 World Cup winner said that Reddy is a capable batsman but the inclusion of Kuldeep Yadav would give India the ideal combination. He said:
“Kuldeep has to play. I am not sure whether they will remove Nitish Kumar Reddy or anyone else. Nitish Kumar Reddy cannot play with this inept bowling. It will collapse. Batting, he is capable of hitting sixes, but he comes up last with limited balls.”
“If need be, keep Harshit Rana at number 8 and Kuldeep at number 9. I liked the way Harshit batted today. I was impressed by his batting and the way he batted. So do that and remove Nitish Reddy. You can’t remove Harshit Rana now because he also took two wickets. So remove Nitish Reddy and play Kuldeep Yadav.”
If Kuldeep had played, India would have definitely won today – Chris Srikkanth
Srikanth further said that if Kuldeep Yadav had been included in the playing eleven, India would have definitely won the Adelaide ODI against Australia and leveled the series 1-1. He said:
“If Kuldeep had played, India would have definitely won today. They were clueless against spin. Even when Australia was 187/5, India had a great chance.
Srikkanth further said, “That’s where they made the mistake of not continuing with Washington Sundar and Axar Patel. Even if they get hit, they will still get you wickets. I don’t understand the logic behind not playing Kuldeep Yadav at all.”
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