India Unlikely to Tweak Playing XI for Delhi Test; Nitish Reddy Set for Another Chance: Assistant Coach Reveals

India are likely to go unchanged for the second Test against West Indies at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. The Shubman Gill-led side are set to take on West Indies for the second and final Test of the series from October 10-14 as they will look to seal the series with another commanding victory.

Ahead of the second match, assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate has said that they will field the same playing XI in the for the Test as well, as they’re looking to groom Nitish Kumar Reddy as a seam-bowling all-rounder. He mentioned the importance of having a player like him on overseas tours, and hence, the team management is giving him another go.

"I'd say we're unlikely to change the combination. One of the objectives, one of the sort of medium-term objectives, is to develop a seam bowling all-rounder for India. It's very important when we go away on tours that we have that position coming. We didn't get a very good look at Nitish last week, so I think it's actually a very good opportunity to give him another go and not alter the balance of the team. We think he's a fantastic seam bowling all-rounder,” said Ten Doeschate in the pre-match press conference.

Furthermore, Ten Doeschate mentioned how the ongoing series would provide a great opportunity for Nitish to develop his bowling skills.

"Nitish, I think he's shown everyone in Australia just how good he is as a batter. The challenge for him is going to be to make sure that he gets game time in between the away series. Like I answered the first question, I think a series like this where you look at the combinations, it's more important to look ahead and see how he gets game time and a chance to develop his bowling,” he added.

Reddy didn’t get much game time in the first Test in Ahmedabad as he bowled four overs for 16 runs and didn’t get an opportunity to bat. Apart from that, he took a terrific diving catch in the second innings to dismiss Tagenarine Chanderpaul. It remains to be seen if Nitish will get a promotion in the batting order during the second Test as the team management is thinking about providing him with good game time.