Nitish Kumar Reddy is creating confusion in Team India”: Former chief selector questions the role of the all-rounder

MSK Prasad was once the head selector for the senior men's team. Recently, he's been musing about Nitish Kumar Reddy's position on the squad. In his view, Reddy is throwing a wrench in the works, due to not being a fully capable batter and bowler who can clinch the game based on his playing alone.

Prasad, the retired professional, suggests that rather than choosing Reddy, the folks running the team ought to opt for a player who specializes. This point came up during the second half of Test 4 when Steve Smith and Pat Cummins were on fire, leaving India in the dust as they struggled to disrupt the duo's massive teamwork.

"Nitish Kumar Reddy's presence is causing uncertainty in Team India's lineup," Prasad insists, "His batting and bowling isn’t enough to win games singlehandedly. Including a specialist player would have been a smarter move, in my view.

"Shubman Gill should have been selected for the fourth Test," he continues, "However, it appears that the team's management was preoccupied with the batting side of things and wished to include Washington Sundar. Including two spinners was superfluous.

Harshit Rana or Prasidh Krishna should have been considered instead," he concluded. In fact, Prasad isn't alone in this perspective. Numerous former pros share the sentiment that Shubman likely deserved a spot on the roster. That said, Nitish has proven himself as a solid player in the lower order, shining alongside KL Rahul as the only player to hand in meaningful performances.

Frustratingly, the strategy let the team down when Rohit logged a mere three points and Rahul struggled to turn a promising beginning into a substantial score while he held the No.3 slot. Sanjay Manjrekar recounted an instance from yesteryears when the same tactics were used against Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag to make space for none other than Sachin Tendulkar to hit a personal record in 2012.