Thiruvananthapuram (Keralam) [India], September 26 : India bowling coach Morne Morkel believes Nitish Kumar Reddy has the ability to develop into a genuine all-rounder option for the team ahead of the 2027 ODI World Cup, with the youngster set to get an opportunity to showcase his 50-over skills against West Indies.
Reddy has played only six ODIs so far but has impressed with his bowling in the recent T20I series against Afghanistan, where he claimed three wickets each in the second and third matches. With Hardik Pandya still working his way back to full fitness, Reddy could get an extended run in the ODI setup.
"I think Nitish, if we just rewind to the T20s, the way he bowled in different situations has been very impressive," Morkel said during a press conference on Friday, according to Cricinfo.
"The message to him all the time is just to keep things simple and do the basics as well as possible. I think he's a very talented guy when it comes to bat, ball and field. He always wants to be the guy who wants to create opportunities, and having that mindset is fantastic,"he added.
Reddy himself has had fitness setbacks, missing India's series against Ireland and England with a quadriceps injury before returning for the Afghanistan ODIs. He was later included in India's ODI squad for the West Indies after being withdrawn from the Asian Games squad, with Pandya yet to regain full fitness.
The all-rounder impressed during India's practice session on Friday, two days before the opening ODI, getting the ball to move away late and beating captain Shubman Gill's outside edge twice. He also induced an outside edge from Rohit Sharma and looked comfortable with the bat.
Morkel said the team would focus on giving Reddy a defined role while allowing him to develop through opportunities.
"I think the role that we want him to play in certain situations is: how can we ask him to be as consistent; how well can he fulfil just doing the basics as best as possible," Morkel said, as per Cricinfo. "I think that is another thing where we need to give him those opportunities to learn and grow.”
"Luckily, we do have a bit of time now, and it will be great for Indian cricket if we can keep on developing him and for him to compete for that allrounder spot. He's got all the talent and all the ability to do that, but for us it's just important to manage him quite well, to give him quite a simple role in terms of what he needs to do for the team," he said.
India are now shifting their focus towards 50-over cricket, with the ODI series against West Indies forming part of their preparations for the 2027 World Cup. They are scheduled to play five ODIs in New Zealand and three against Sri Lanka later this year, followed by three ODIs against Zimbabwe at the start of 2027.
Morkel said the team wanted players to put themselves under pressure and learn to handle difficult situations rather than focus on protecting their positions in the side.
"Look, for me, the main focus I reckon would be: we can talk and you can look at different options, how you want to go about playing XI. But for me, the end of the day is that whoever walks onto the field now, up until the World Cup, starting on Sunday, needs to know that there's a certain standard we want to achieve. I want these players to put themselves under pressure, as much pressure,” said Morkel.
"I think coming to the World Cup on the biggest stage, you can't decide a month or a week before the tournament that now we're going to step things up. I think it starts now with this series against West Indies, how, with bat, ball and in the field, we put ourselves under pressure," the former Proteas pacer added.
Morkel also stressed the importance of managing the workload of India's bowlers following a series of injuries in the pace-bowling group.
"We're constantly keeping an eye on workload management, how to give the guys the best opportunity to be fit and put their name in the hat for selection," he said, as per Cricinfo. "We've got Hardik, we've got Harshit Rana, all those guys still on the sidelines, and we're excited to get them back and get them playing and get them fit again. So that's part of our job to sit with the medical side and map that out."
India face West Indies in the first ODI in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.
India ODI squad: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (vice-captain), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Mohammed Siraj, Auqib Nabi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Naman Dhir.
West Indies ODI squad: Shai Hope (captain), Jewel Andrew, John Campbell, Keacy Carty, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Justin Greaves, Amir Jangoo, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Vitel Lawes, Gudakesh Motie, Keemo Paul, Sherfane Rutherford, Jayden Seales.