India’s promising all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy made waves with a quick-fire 43 in the second Test, even without bowling a single delivery, as head coach Gautam Gambhir emphasised the focus on experience over overs.
“Look, for me, I think it’s not important how many overs he’s bowled. It’s important that he’s gaining experience, gaining experience at home as well. Sometimes you learn a lot just by playing a game of cricket as well. And it’s a Test match. And we don’t want to use a 23-year-old boy just on tough tours away from home. That’s not going to be fair on him, that we decide to play him only in overseas tour, be it Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, or England. I think when he’s done well overseas, he deserves a go in home conditions as well,” Gambhir said.
“And wherever we can get the opportunity to put him in Indian conditions, we’ll continue to do that because it’s important for us to groom someone like Nitish because you know that there are not many seam-bowling all-rounders. And we’ve spoken for decades and decades about seam-bowling all-rounders. So whenever we’ll get that opportunity, we’ll keep grooming him,” he added.
Gambhir’s comments underline India’s long-term vision to nurture young talent like Nitish, giving them opportunities to develop both at home and abroad while preparing a new generation of versatile all-rounders for the team.