Nitish Kumar Reddy of India plays a shot during the 1st ODI match between Australia and India at Perth Stadium, Perth, Australia, on October 19, 2025. (CREIMAS for BCCI)Former India player Aakash Chopra wondered in allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy will get a game in the upcoming New Zealand ODI series, having sat out the last one against South Africa even after being named in the squad. Reddy hasn’t played the 50-over format for the Men in Blue since 2nd ODI against Australia in October 2025.
“Ruturaj misses out because Iyer is back. So does Tilak because Gill is back. And that begs a question—why didn’t they play Pant at 4 when the opportunity presented itself vs SA? Since you’re continuing with him as a back-up keeper, it would’ve made a lot more sense to play him in Iyer’s absence,” Chopra said on X.
“Also, if NKR is indispensable…why doesn’t he get a game? Even when India’s fielding 3 pacers?? Will he get a game now?? With four pacers? How can you get future-ready (read for Pandya’s absence) when he’s always warming the bench?,” he added.
Ruturaj misses out because Iyer is back. So does Tilak because Gill is back. And that begs a question—why didn’t they play Pant at 4 when the opportunity presented itself vs SA? Since you’re continuing with him as a back-up keeper, it would’ve made a lot more sense to play him in…
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) January 3, 2026
Last year during the West Indies Test series, assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate had said that the goal was to develop Nitish into India’s go to seam bowling allrounder with an eye on the future.
“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 Nitish another go and not alter the balance of the team. We think he’s a fantastic seam bowling all-rounder,” the former Netherlands captain had said.
Meanwhile, the return of captain Shubman Gill and vice-captain Shreyas Iyer headlined India’s squad for the three ODIs against New Zealand. Having missed the previous series against South Africa with injuries, the duo have taken back their spots which meant there was no place for Ruturaj Gaikwad, who scored a century batting at No 4.
Similarly, with Rishabh Pant already in the mix, Dhruv Jurel has been dropped. Also making a comeback to the ODI mix is pacer Mohammed Siraj in place of back-up batsman Tilak Varma.
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