Injuries scuttle India's preparation! Nitish Reddy likely to be ruled out
Manchester:
On Saturday, Anshul Kamboj was asked to travel to Manchester as a cover for pacers Arshdeep Singh and Akash Deep. Just as the Indian team was settling into a good rhythm with a settled combination in the series, they were hamstrung by a few injuries leading up to the fourth Test starting here on Wednesday.
The latest on the list is Nitish Kumar Reddy, who is suspected to have suffered a knee injury.
It's been raining here almost all day for the last two days. The practice session on Sunday was restricted to the indoor facilities at Old Trafford. Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, and Reddy skipped practice. Akash Deep's groin and back are being monitored closely, while Arshdeep's split webbing on his bowling hand is likely to take some more time to heal.
TOI understands that Reddy could well be ruled out of the tour.
'Reddy has injured his knee. The
BCCI
medical team is assessing him, but it could be a ligament tear,' a BCCI source told TOI. If Reddy is unfit, the team management may have to go with Shardul Thakur.
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India had banked on the utility allrounders in Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington to lend balance to the playing XI from the second Test. With two Tests remaining, they were expected to play a bigger role than just being the support wheels.
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It's not just Reddy and Washington; Dhruv Jurel may have to be ready too, as Pant's recovery from an index finger injury is also being monitored daily. Assistant Coach Ryan ten Doeschate on Thursday claimed Jurel is being kept ready in case Pant doesn't recover enough to keep wickets here.
'It's giving as much attention and care to the guys who aren't playing as they are playing. Making sure they get quality practice between tests.
Talking to them about why we are going with the combinations we're not going with and hoping that they're in the right frame of mind and obviously physically and technically ready to play Test cricket when their chance comes,' ten Doeschate said on Thursday.
EXCLUSIVE: Nitish Kumar Reddy ruled out of England Test series
Gautam Gambhir's tenure as Head Coach of the team has mostly been about having more players with multiple skills regardless of the format of the game. That led to Washington Sundar playing ahead of R Ashwin to start the Test series in Australia last November.
Reddy was fast-tracked into the Test team in Australia mainly because of the promise he showed in the preceding IPL. Reddy's century in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne raised hopes of finally discovering a genuine seam-bowling allrounder in the mix since Hardik Pandya expressed reluctance to play Test cricket due to fitness issues a few years ago.
Thakur, who was seen as the one to be doing the job in the interim, lost his place to Reddy after the first Test here.
It's time Thakur proved the selectors right for bringing him back almost out of the blue.
There are murmurs that Gambhir has been overtly keen to give Jurel more game time too. All of it sounds fair in the white-ball formats. To execute it in the longest format of the game needs absolute conviction.
Poll
Who do you think should replace Nitish Kumar Reddy if ruled out due to injury?
Shardul Thakur
Dhruv Jurel
Another allrounder
Stick with the current squad
Gambhir's calls have been mostly vindicated by Washington and Reddy with crucial contributions at different stages in different Test matches.
Washington's spell of 4/22 in the second innings at Lord's last week gave India a definite advantage to go ahead in the series. He also answered the team management's call to arrest any lower middle-order collapse in the first innings before he fell for a duck in the chase at Lord's.
It was Washington's finest performance overseas.
However, Reddy's performances since the MCG Test have been underwhelming. He was brought in to bat at No.
6 from Edgbaston. By the second innings in the second Test, he lost that batting number to Ravindra Jadeja. The three top-order wickets at Lord's have been his biggest contribution. Thakur looked out of breath in the first Test.
What this team needs at this moment is reassurance from Thakur and Washington that they are ready to step up and do more than just contribute to the team.
Washington and Thakur are not completely alien to taking more responsibility when the team is somewhat crippled, as he showed on his Test debut in the famous Gabba win in 2021. It was in England in 2021 that Thakur truly showed his prowess as a bowling allrounder with his batting capabilities down the order. He may have got another shot at redemption.
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