India men’s cricket team assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate feels it is time for Nitish Reddy to play in place of Shardul Thakur in the second Test of the five-match series for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England at Edgbaston in Birmingham, starting July 2.
India opted for bowling all-rounder Thakur over a batting all-rounder for the fourth pacer’s slot at Leeds.
The Mumbai all-rounder was underwhelming as he did not bowl enough and had an ordinary time with the bat.
Doeschate indicated that Nitish Reddy might play.
"He's very close to getting a game. Obviously, 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 the bowling all-rounder. Which we thought Shardul was slightly ahead on the bowling front. We're looking at ways of rejigging the puzzle, so we can get a batting all-rounder in.
"Nitish is our premium batting all-rounder at the moment. So I would say it's a very good chance to play this Test," the former Netherlands international said.