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India have won the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan after winning the second game of the series by 7 wickets. Shreyas Iyer’s side won the series in dominating fashion, winning the first two games. Nitish Kumar Reddy was the Player of the Match for his excellent performance, and former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has praised the all-rounder after his performance.
The Men in Blue had a dominating show at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi, as they finished off the game inside the powerplay, citing to Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma’s fiery batting in the first six overs while chasing a target of 160 runs. India has now won two back-to-back series under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer.
Sunil Gavaskar finds Nitish Kumar Reddy an exciting prospect
Sunil Gavaskar, during a discussion on Sony Sports Network, praised Nitish Kumar Reddy as he recalled how the young all-rounder improved himself as a bowler, as the all-rounder initially did not bowl much. Gavaskar also spoke about the other all-rounders who should be looked after as they can become better over time if groomed properly.
"Nitish Kumar Reddy is a very fine prospect. When he started in the IPL, he wasn't much of a bowler then, in that first year before he went to Australia. He was more of a batter. The batting technique was very good. A couple of overs he bowled towards the end of that first season, that's where he looked as if he could be a very fine all-round cricketer," the former India opener said.
"Venkatesh Iyer, Suryansh Shedge - these are all promising all-rounders, and they have to be given the opportunity to develop. Don't rush them in. Develop them and also at the same time, encourage them when they don't have a good match," he added.
Sunil Gavaskar suggest BCCI to groom young all-rounders
Sunil Gavaskar states that if the above-named all-rounders are groomed and encouraged to take their bowling seriously alongside the batting, they can be fantastic with time. This means that it would solve India’s long-standing problem of finding Hardik Pandya’s backup, as the veteran all-rounder has been out injured multiple times, for which the team has suffered throughout the series and major tournaments.
"These are the guys you want to keep an eye on. Help them and encourage them to take their bowling also a little bit seriously because they are primarily in the team as batters. Sometimes when you are in the team primarily as batters, you tend to think as batters. If you start to think a little bit like bowlers, they will be absolutely fantastic, and India then has the options," he observed.
"It just tells you that he has learned from it": Sunil Gavaskar on Nitish Kumar Reddy's improvement
Sunil Gavaskar further pointed out Nitish Kumar Reddy’s improvement in bowling, as he pointed out that Nitish Kumar Reddy went for 30 runs in the first game in just two overs, and in the second game he came back strong, picked three wickets and gave away 24 runs in three overs.
"In the last match, he gave away 30 runs in two overs. Now he has taken three wickets for less than 30 runs. It just tells you that he has learned from it. That is something that you have got to see," he said.
"If somebody has got natural talent but he is not applying his cricketing thinking, then he is not going to make much progress. You can see with Nitish that he wants to improve every time, and that's why he has got a great future," Gavaskar observed.
