After Harshit Rana, Kris Srikkanth launches fresh attack on another Gautam Gambhir favourite

Former Indian selector Kris Srikkanth had once put vile accusations on Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir for prioritizing Harshit Rana's selection across formats; however, Rana has slowly earned a reputation for himself with his recent performances. The former World Cup winner has hence turned his scathing attack towards the batting all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy.

India's selections for the New Zealand ODIs have been under scrutiny from several cricket experts. Now, one of India's recent biggest critics, Kris Srikkanth, has once again voiced his disapproval of India's team selections.

However, the former World Cup winner has not questioned the non-selection of CSK batter Ruturaj Gaikwad, like all, and has no issues with Yashasvi Jaiswal or Rishabh Pant's inclusion. He has a fresh target whom he again claims to be an unreasonable pick by the Indian selectors.

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Kris Srikkanth questions Nitish Kumar Reddy's inclusion for NZ ODIs

Srikkanth was in the spotlight when he slammed Gautam Gambhir for siding with Harshit Rana across formats ahead of India's tour to Australia. However, with his commanding performances, Srikkanth was forced to acknowledge Rana's rising prominence in Indian limited-overs cricket.

However, this time around, ahead of the home series against New Zealand, Kris Srikkanth is up and questioning the inclusion of batting all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy into the Indian ODI squad. The Andhra captain has been picked as a like-for-like replacement for all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who has been rested due to the ICC T20 World Cup workload.

"I am not sure what Nitish Kumar Reddy has done. How is he looked at as an all-rounder? He won't be given the ball at all as teams will smash him everywhere. I don't understand the logic behind this. How's he a replacement for Hardik Pandya? Hardik Pandya can play in the 11 only as a bowler or a batter and as a fielder too," said Srikkanth, reacting to Nitish Reddy's selection on his YouTube channel.

"Whereas, can Nitish Kumar Reddy fit into the team as a pure bowler? Will you ever give him three or four overs on the trot? Even if he has to bowl just five or six overs, how will he do it? There's no scope," he added.

Srikkanth points out Axar Patel's sudden omission from ODIs

Kris Srikkanth never stopped blaming the Indian selectors for not having picked some of the most deserving players. Though he made no comments on Ruturaj Gaikwad's snub from the Indian team, he questioned Axar Patel's sudden exclusion.

Axar Patel slowly evolved as a crucial all-rounder for India in limited-overs cricket when he was promoted to the middle order during their tour to Australia. However, he has been sidelined from the South Africa and New Zealand ODI series.

Kris Srikkanth thinks India could have picked Axar Patel instead of Reddy, who has made several exceptional efforts for India in the past.

"I don't know how they keep pushing him as an all-rounder. I am not even sure his track record in domestic cricket is that good. Instead of Nitish Kumar Reddy, they could have picked Axar Patel.

"He's also an all-rounder and is the vice captain also in T20Is. What mistake did Axar Patel make? He has been very good and consistent. Suddenly, you've left him out of the squad," said Kris Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).

India have picked three all-rounders for the NZ ODIs

India have ideally picked three all-rounders in the ODI team, of which two 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 an unquestionable veteran of the game in India, and Sundar is a backup for both Kuldeep Yadav and Jadeja on the team. However, Reddy has done very little with the bat and has been very expensive with the ball in his short ODI career.

The 22-year-old also did not have stunning numbers in the domestic competitions, as he could not manage 150 runs in 5 innings and picked 6 wickets at a very high economy rate.

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