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Team India is all set to tour New Zealand for an all-format away series later this month. It will be another series for the Men in Blue without their premier pace-bowling all-rounder, Hardik Pandya. In Pandya's absence, Nitish Kumar Reddy is most likely to fill the pace-bowling all-rounder slot.
Nitish Kumar Reddy has had multiple opportunities to show his skills both with the bat and ball. But the Andhra Pradesh cricketer still needs to show his best and will have to turn himself into a consistent performer for the Indian cricket team at the highest level of the game.
R Sridhar and Bharat Arun offer suggestions to Nitish Kumar Reddy
Team India's former fielding coach R Sridhar and the former bowling coach Bharat Arun both believe that Nitish Kumar Reddy has all the necessary tools to emerge as the successor to Hardik Pandya.
Reddy has represented the national side across all three formats,s and so far, it has been a roller coaster ride for the 23-year-old. In the previous matches with the India men's cricket team, there were some moments of greatness from Nitish Kumar Reddy. He was brilliant with the ball against Afghanistan, taking 6 wickets in three matches in Delhi. However, his batting was not tested enough during the series.
R Sridhar shares views on Nitish Kumar Reddy
He got to face a significant number of balls against West Indies. After 9 and 21 in New Chandigarh and Indore, he jumped to register 41 in Hyderabad. R Sridhar stated that Reddy is curbing his actual potential, as he can do a lot with the bat.
“Nitish, I think, is slightly punching below his ability at the moment. Hopefully, he picks up more and picks up better with the bat. He’s more than a capable batter. Maybe Nitish Kumar could be a better product by then, or Hardik could come back super fit and play an absolutely blinder of a World Cup. So let’s wait till we get more clarity on that position," Sridhar told CricketNext.
Bharat Arun shares thoughts on Nitish Kumar Reddy's bowling
Former Team India bowling coach Bharat Arun mentioned that to fill Hardik Pandya's shoes, Reddy needs to bowl well under pressure, according to the conditions, and maintain a good pace.
"Hardik Pandya is an outstanding all-rounder. He’ll surely be missed (in New Zealand). But then, in Reddy, I think we have an all-rounder candidate. He has got enough pace in him to bowl well at the international level," Arun said.
“It’s one thing having the pace. How good are you at executing what you want to do? That is going to be very challenging. Under trying conditions, under pressure, if you are able to execute perfectly what you want to, then you are a winner. If Nitish Kumar wants to fill the slot as an all-rounder, he should be looking to be exactly that. If you ask me if he has the ability to do it, I would say yes. But how hard he works to turn that ability into something that would help his team remains to be seen," Arun said.
