India’s assistant coach, Ryan ten Doeschate, has confirmed that all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy is “very close” to playing in the second Test against England, which will begin on Wednesday, July 2. He added that the decision to deploy Shardul Thakur in the first Test at Headingley was intended to enhance the bowling unit.
Ten Doeschate lauded Reddy’s strong achievements in Australia, calling him the team’s best batting all-rounder. He stated that Reddy has a good chance of making the playing XI for the Edgbaston Test.
“He’s really close to getting a game. He was amazing in Australia. Coming into the team and playing the way he did, we just felt on balance that for the last game, we wanted to go with a bowling all-rounder, and we thought Shardul Thakur was slightly ahead on the bowling front,” ten Doeschate said at the press conference on Monday, June 30.
“We’re looking into rearranging the puzzle so we can get a batting all-rounder in. Obviously, Nitish is our best batting all-rounder at the moment. “I believe he has a very good chance of playing this Test,” he said.
The 45-year-old also stated that the team management is eager to include Kuldeep Yadav in the second test. However, he stated that Kuldeep’s selection will ultimately be determined by the balance of the middle and lower middle-order.
“We’d love to have him join the team. With two all-rounders in the last game, it would have been wonderful to have a spinner. Furthermore, we are attempting to make the greatest appraisal of what we see in front of us,” ten Doeschate stated.
“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 told reporters.
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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