India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has admitted that all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy is “very close” to playing in the second Test against England, scheduled to begin on Wednesday, July 2. He explained that the decision to play Shardul Thakur in the first Test at Headingley was aimed at strengthening the bowling unit.
Ten Doeschate praised Reddy’s impressive performances in Australia, describing him as the team’s premier batting all-rounder. He added that Reddy has a strong chance of featuring in the playing XI for the Edgbaston Test.
“He’s very close to getting a game. He was fantastic in Australia. Coming into the team and playing the way he did, we just felt on balance for the last game we wanted to go with a bowling all-rounder which we thought Shardul (Thakur) was slightly ahead on the bowling front,” ten Doeschate said at the press conference on Monday, June 30.
“We are looking at ways of rejigging the puzzle so we can get a batting all-rounder in. Obviously, Nitish is our premium batting all-rounder at the moment. I would say he has a very good chance to play this Test,” he added.
The 45-year-old also acknowledged that the team management is eager to include Kuldeep Yadav in the second Test. However, he noted that Kuldeep’s selection will ultimately depend on the balance of the middle and lower middle-order.
“We’d love to get him into the team. Playing two all-rounders in the last game, it would have been nice to have a spinner in the last game. Also, we are trying to make the best assessment of what we are seeing in front of us,” ten Doeschate said.
“We know we are going to need three seamers in this game and it is just how you manage that 6,7,8 role, the guys who are going to play that role and whether we can fit Kuldeep in now or save him for later in the series where if the weather stays like this, it should turn somewhere along the line,” he added.
India likely to play two spinners: Ryan ten Doeschate
The assistant coach confirmed that the team is likely to play two spinners in the second Test. However, he added that the final decision would depend on the pitch conditions on the day of the match.
“There is a very strong chance of playing two spinners. It is just which two we play and that goes back to the previous question about juggling the batting depth. All three spinners are bowling very nicely. Washi (Sundar) is batting very nicely. So it is just which combination do we go with, do we go with an all-rounder spinner or the out and out spinner,” ten Doeschate conceded.
“Then we obviously have to play the bowling all-rounder. So there is so many different variables. The wicket has 11 or 12 mm of grass, it is quite grassy and patchy. It is quite dry underneath but there is also rain forecast for Wednesday, so trying to weigh up two options of how we want to go attacking wise, but I am pretty sure two spinners will play in this Test,” he concluded.
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