BCCI’s plan to make Nitish Kumar Reddy bigger than Hardik Pandya revealed

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Indian team management are looking to transform the young Nitish Kumar Reddy into a beast pace-bowling all-rounder, who can serve the side for a very long time.

India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said that Nitish Kumar Reddy is a well-liked player in the Indian cricket circuit, and the popular belief is that he is a quality all-rounder.

I'd say we're unlikely to change the combination - Ryan ten Doeschate confirms Jasprit Bumrah's availability for Delhi Test

Team India annihilated Team West Indies in the Test series opener at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad to register a victory by an innings and 140 runs. The next match between the teams is set to be played from October 10 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

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Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Ryan ten Doeschate hinted at Jasprit Bumrah's participation in the second Test and talked about India's medium-term objective to develop a proper seam-bowling all-rounder. He said:

"I'd say we're unlikely to change the combination. One of the sort of medium-term objectives is to develop a seam-bowling allrounder for India, because it's very important when we go away on tours that we have that position covered. We didn't get a very good look at Nitish last week, so I think it's a very good opportunity to give Nitish another go and not alter the balance of the team."

Nitish Kumar Reddy was part of the playing XI in the victory over the West Indies in the Ahmedabad Test, but he made close to no contribution in the game. He bowled four overs in the first innings of the West Indies and didn't bowl in the second innings, while not getting to bat in India's only innings. His biggest contribution in the match was a blinder he took to send back Tagenarine Chanderpaul.

We think he's a fantastic seam-bowling allrounder, a batter who bowls seam - Ryan ten Doeschate

Ryan ten Doeschate further said that the biggest challenge for Nitish Kumar Reddy is going to be maintaining a top-level fitness to handle the workload of Test cricket as India look to transform him into a beast all-rounder. He elaborated:

"We think he's a fantastic seam-bowling allrounder, a batter who bowls seam. I think the biggest limitation to what his ceiling could be is going to be his body. He is not the first allrounder we've seen in this country whom that applies to; to be perfectly honest, Hardik [Pandya]'s in the same sort of character of player where we don't doubt their skills at all but for their bodies to hold up to Test cricket is a different matter.

"Nitish, I think he showed everyone in Australia how good he is as a batter; I think the challenge for him is going to be to make sure that he gets game time in between away series. In a series like this, when you look at the combination, it's more important to look ahead and see how we can fit him in to make sure that he does get game time and time to develop his bowling. We really like him, we think he's a quality all-rounder."

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Ryan ten Doeschate reveals why Nitish Kumar Reddy was slotted at No.8 vs WI

The India assistant coach also revealed why Nitish Kumar Reddy was slotted at No.8 in the batting order against the West Indies. He stated that the spin-bowling all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar have been in sensational form with the bat, and as Nitish Kumar Reddy was out of the team with injury, he was slotted below the in-form players.

"The sort of lucky thing for us is Washy and Jaddu and even Axar [Patel] are pretty much the same sort of players. We feel they can bat anywhere from five all the way through to eight, and on the most recent evidence of Washy getting important runs in the UK, [and] obviously Jaddu's form in the last six months has been immense, and unfortunately that means when Nitish does come back into the team right after his injury, he fits in right at the back of that list, and hence the reason why he batted at eight," Ryan ten Doeschate stated.

"The only drawback, or the only sort of downer from last week in that first Test was the fact that Nitish Kumar Reddy didn't get to compete in any of the departments, but I think it's also a strong message to the guys who are fighting for that spot that you need to be versatile, you need to be able to bat anywhere from five all the way through to eight."

Overall, the Andhra all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has featured in eight Test matches for India, scoring 343 and taking 8 wickets with the ball.