Atreyo Mukhopadhyay
What are pace or medium-pace bowling all-rounders? A breed of cricketers the Indian team has been craving since the retirement of Kapil Dev nearly three decades ago. Many players were tried out. None clicked at the Test level. The noise gets louder each time they travel for a marquee series — mainly in England and Australia — as the people concerned keep pressing the ‘search’ button.
After a lot of search and research, the selectors and the head coach have zeroed in on Nitish Kumar Reddy. The player from Andhra Pradesh, who caught attention in IPL 2024 playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad, went to Australia. He played five Tests, gave a good account of himself with the bat and didn’t do much of note with the ball.
With five more Tests coming up in England, Reddy is in the India A squad for two first-class games against England Lions, and an intra-squad match featuring India’s Test players before the big series. In spite of his moderate first-class returns and limited experience, he has earned the trust to be tried out in a role that no Indian has performed with distinction in many years. Hardik Pandya shone for a brief period before deciding to say no to Tests following a series of injuries.
Tale of unsuccessful experiments
This is something the team has wanted on tours of England. In 2014, it was Stuart Binny. He made a match-saving 78 on debut in the drawn first Test. The Karnataka player was fielded also in the second and fifth, where his contribution with the bat at No. 8 was negligible. He was expensive with the ball and failed to take a wicket. Binny’s Test career ended after three more appearances.
Pandya made an impression in 2018. He went to England after belting smart and useful runs in Sri Lanka and South Africa, where he also took wickets. He was low-key with the bat against England, but claimed his maiden five-wicket haul. A century, four half-centuries, 17 wickets from 11 Tests and an impact player — Pandya ticked all the boxes before choosing white-ball cricket over red.
Although not picked specifically as an all-rounder, Shardul Thakur contributed with bat and ball in the four Tests he played in England, including the 2023 World Test Championship final. Three fifties batting at No. 8 and 10 wickets are useful returns. Thakur is in the scheme of things this time too, having been named in the India A squad following a solid domestic season.
With Thakur in contention, what does Reddy bring to the table? There was no pressure of expectations on him in Australia. At No. 7 and 8, he made three forties and an unbeaten 38 in his first four innings before hitting a hundred. His approach was sans inhibitions and stroke-making clean, against a bunch of bowlers who had already done the hard work of removing the top-order. Still, 298 runs at an average over 37 was good from a newcomer in testing conditions for batting.
Australia plan may not work in England
England will obviously be different. Reddy and a few others have no experience of playing in conditions favouring swing. Shots struck through the line in India or Australia may not be executed as frequently. Playing late and close to the body, leaving the ball — there has to be technical adjustments as well. He needs additions to the formula of ‘block and hit’ that worked Down Under.
Reddy is not a specialist batter. His other role will also be watched. Since he is not a frontline wicket-taker, his primary task will be to contain and then see if he can exploit the conditions. Given that he is in the 120-125 km range, he has to find movement. In Australia, he took five wickets in five Tests, bowling 44 overs with an economy rate of 4.31. The team will expect him to be more effective.
India’s preference for five bowlers means there are five batters and a wicketkeeper. Reddy’s presence makes it a batter-cum-bowler in place of one of those batters. On paper, that weakens the batting. If Reddy doesn’t click, the question will be raised ‘why not another specialist batter when you have five bowlers’. The 21-year-old will face pressure this time, unlike in Australia.
This team under head coach Gautam Gambhir has placed trust in Reddy. Otherwise, he had little to show for before Australia, apart from one IPL season. From an obscure entity in domestic cricket to India’s Test all-rounder is a massive journey, which was completed in the blink of an eye. This series should reveal what India finds in its quest for a long-term all-rounder who doesn’t bowl spin.
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