3,600 km round-trip for two overs: Did anyone benefit from India releasing and recalling Nitish Kumar Reddy?

No one really batted an eyelid when Nitish Kumar Reddy was released from India’s Test squad 10 days ago.

At the time, it was two days out from the first Test against South Africa at Eden Gardens, and much of the focus was on batter Dhruv Jurel, who was coming off twin tons for the A team against South Africa A.

That day (November 12) at the pre-match press conference, assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate admitted that India could not leave Jurel out of the Test XI, with Nitish losing his spot as as result: “Given the importance of this series and given the conditions we think we're going to face, he might miss out in this Test this week.

The release from the Test squad

A few hours later, a BCCI release stated that Nitish had been released from the squad, to play three 50-over games for India A against South Africa A in Rajkot on November 13, 16 and 19.

The first Test was scheduled for November 14-18, so the release did clarify he would return for the second Test in Guwahati, slated to begin on November 22.

During India’s last Test, against West Indies in Delhi, there was much discussion over Nitish’s role as an all-rounder, since his seam bowling was not utilised at all. In that particular match it was understandable why that happened: in short, when India had enough wicket-taking bowlers in those conditions to throw at the opposition, a “holding” bowler like Reddy was not really required.

Against this backdrop, when he was not going to play the first Test, it was by no means a bad call for him to get game time as an all-rounder elsewhere. The A series going on at the time gave India a unique opportunity to test Nitish before the second Test as he returned from injury; a left quadriceps issue kept him out of the last ODI in Australia, before neck spasms meant he was forced to miss the first three T20Is against the same opposition. He did not take part in the 4th and 5th matches of that series either.

So Nitish, who was certainly in Kolkata as late as November 11, dashed roughly 1,800 km, literally across the country from east to west, to Rajkot for the first A game on November 13.

Two overs bowled and 27 balls faced

India A were made to field first in the series opener, and they ended up using eight bowlers. Nitish was the last one to come into the attack, doing so only in the 46th over of the innings. He sent down two overs, returning 1-18. In the chase of 286, he batted at No.6 and helped them across the line with a quickfire 37 off 26.

Three days later, even as the Kolkata Test turned into a nightmare for India, the A team skittled their South African counterparts for 132. Nitish did not bowl at all – this may have been understandable, since the innings ended fairly quickly, in 30.3 overs.

But India A still had time to use seven bowlers – part-time off-spinners Tilak Varma and Ayush Badoni sent down four overs each. Nitish did not get to bat either, as the top three finished off the chase with ease.

Nitish Kumar Reddy - Contributions in recent matches

The original plan being that he would play all three games and return, he was then summoned back to Kolkata early, after a neck injury to Shubman Gill meant the captain’s participation in the second Test was doubtful.

The Times of India reported that Nitish joined the Test team for an optional training session on November 18. He subsequently travelled with the rest of the squad from Kolkata to Guwahati on November 19. As a result, he did not play the third India A game scheduled for that day.

At the end of it all, Nitish made a roughly 3,600-km round-trip to bowl two overs and bat 27 balls, begging the question as to India’s plan with the entire endeavour.

The aforementioned TOI report also stated: “The Indian think tank released him from the Test squad after looking at the [Eden Gardens] pitch and felt it was important for him to continue getting game time, and add more bowling volume.”

Two overs in two games – as the eighth bowler in the side – tells a story in stark contrast to that intention. Clearly, while the media outlet seemed aware, the India A camp did not get the memo.

What was the point of the whole exercise?

What else is clear, is that the India team management felt match practice was important enough for Nitish, that he needed to be released from the Test squad entirely, and sent across the country. Training in the nets while the first Test took place was not considered suitable enough.

If this was the case (and Gill’s injury notwithstanding), it is difficult to see the merit in pulling him out of the third game. When that had been the initial plan, India would have lost little by allowing him to carry on – especially when he did not bat or bowl.

In fact, had Nitish remained with the Test squad in Kolkata throughout, he may have got through a higher bowling workload in a day; granted, in a non-competitive environment.

Also read: Nitish Kumar Reddy interview: Overnight hero in Australia, NKR now sets sights on England

The India coaching staff, and the rest of the country, know he can bat at international level. His bowling holding up, both from the quality and physicality perspectives, is the unknown. The biggest gain for India from sending him all this way between Tests – commercial flights take upto six hours with a stopover – was perhaps that he fielded for 80-odd overs. He may have accumulated that across the first Test as a substitute fielder by sticking around in Kolkata.

In essence, it is hard to see what anyone gained from the entire exercise. India will now throw Nitish into the second Test anyway, with a negligible addition of match practice but a significant addition of travel. It must be taken that he was cleared by India’s medical staff for the journey and (potential) bowling workload, but even so the payoff seems particularly poor. Remaining in close proximity to the physios at training in Kolkata could not have been a significantly worse option for India.

If this appears to be much hand-wringing over nothing (professional athletes are used to travelling, they know how to deal with it, etc), bear in mind extra care needs to be taken of Nitish, who has one of the most unique player profiles in and around the national setup.

Seam-bowling all-rounders are rare in India – partly due to the physically taxing nature of the role – but can have an ‘unlocking’ effect on the balance of any side. Reddy’s three international debuts have come in the space of just over a year, almost as part of a concerted effort to integrate him into the national setup in each format.

Read more: Nitish Kumar Reddy interview: 'I have just one goal: to be the best all-rounder in the world'

This should be reason enough to be a bit more careful about where, when, how and how much he is playing. His injury history only drives home the point.

In September 2023, an ankle ligament injury ruled him out of that year’s Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament. After a breakout IPL season in 2024, he made India’s T20I squad for the tour of Zimbabwe but a hernia, which required surgery, put paid to his hopes of an international debut then.

Nitish impressed with the bat in his debut Test series in Australia last year, but immediately afterwards (January 2025) missed the home T20Is against England with a side strain. A knee injury this July ruled him out of the last two Tests of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, before the quadriceps-neck double whammy in Australia.

India need to look no further than the loss of Hardik Pandya in Test cricket to know how tricky it can be to manage the fitness of such players. If they are to err, let it be on the side of walking on eggshells.

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