Ryan Doeschate opens up on possible change in playing XI for 2nd ENG vs IND 2025 Test, says Nitish Kumar Reddy is close to selection

India’s assistant coach Ryan Doeschate has hinted that Nitish Kumar Reddy is close to selection for the second Test match against England. Reddy had impressed one and all on the Australian tour as he had scored a fine century. 

The right-hander scored 298 runs in five Test matches of the Border-Gavaskar series and ended the series as India’s second highest run-getter. However, Reddy was not backed in the opening Test against England as the visitors decided to play Shardul Thakur.

But Thakur could not deliver as he managed only five runs at Leeds and bagged only two wickets and also proved costly.

“Nitish is very close to getting a game. He was fantastic in Australia. Coming into the team and playing the way he did, we just felt on balance for the last game we wanted to go with a bowling all-rounder which we thought Shardul (Thakur) was slightly ahead on the bowling front,” Ten Doeschate said at the press conference.

“We are looking at ways of rejigging the puzzle so we can get a batting all-rounder in. Obviously, Nitish is our premium batting all-rounder at the moment. I would say he has a very good chance to play this Test,” he added.

The former Netherlands batter also revealed that the team’s think tank is keen to play Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI in the second Test.

“We’d love to get him into the team. Playing two all-rounders in the last game, it would have been nice to have a spinner in the last game. Also, we are trying to make the best assessment of what we are seeing in front of us.”

“We know we are going to need three seamers in this game and it is just how you manage that 6,7,8 role, the guys who are going to play that role and whether we can fit Kuldeep in now or save him for later in the series where if the weather stays like this, it should turn somewhere along the line.”

The former KKR batter said India could play two spinners in the second Test at Edgbaston.

Doeschate concluded, “There is a very strong chance of playing two spinners. It is just which two we play and that goes back to the previous question about juggling the batting depth. All three spinners are bowling very nicely. Washi (Sundar) is batting very nicely. So it is just which combination do we go with, do we go with all-rounder spinner or the out and out spinner.”

The second Test match between India and England will be played at Edgbaston, Birmingham from July 2nd onwards.