Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], June 19 (ANI): Ahead of the third and final ODI against Afghanistan in Chennai, Indian assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate spoke about the team's pool of all-rounders, highlighting Nitish Kumar Reddy as the "natural successor" to veteran all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
Team India is set to play the final ODI against Afghanistan in Chennai, with the series already secured 2-0 in favor of India. Over the past few years and particularly in recent months, India has seen a surge in all-rounder talent, with Washington Sundar, Manav Suthar, Harsh Dubey, and Tanush Kotian emerging as quality spin-bowling all-rounders.
In the pace-bowling all-rounder category, Nitish Kumar Reddy has become a leading contender to eventually replace Hardik Pandya. Speaking ahead of the match about the team's all-rounder depth, Doeschate noted that most of these players are primarily bowling all-rounders.
"And when Hardik plays, he obviously brings a different element because he is such a strong batter, such a strong finisher. A sort of role scarcity is difficult to find a finisher who gives you overs as well," he said.
"So those guys are all tracking really nicely. Like I said with Nitish, for the last 18 months, he's shown glimpses of how important he can be to this team, particularly in this format. And I feel his body's getting stronger and stronger, and I sort of feel he is the natural successor or backup to Hardik," he added.
Doeschate expressed satisfaction with the progress of other all-rounders, emphasizing the importance of having handy lower-order batters for the Cricket World Cup 2027 in South Africa.
"Even someone like Gurnoor (Brar) and Harsh (Dubey), they are all bowling all-rounders. But the fact that we feel we've got guys who can hold the bat at number nine, obviously looking forward for the next 14, 15 months, that is going to be very important. Especially in South Africa, when you want to play three proper out-and-out seamers, those guys are going to need to bat. A lot of good signs on the all-rounder front and also on the fast-bowling front. I think it's been refreshing this week to see Prince, to see Gurnoor, to see Aquib Nabi," he said.
