The assistant coach expressed satisfaction with the progress of India’s all-rounder depth.
The all-rounder dismissed centurion Rahmanullah Gurbaz for 51-ball 102, and followed it with the wicket of Mohammad Nabi.
While Nitish missed the second ODI in Lucknow due to a sore left thigh, he is set to return to playing XI for the third and final match at Chepauk on June 20.
On the eve of the game, India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate addressed a press conference, where he offered a strong endorsement of Nitish’s long-term value to the Indian ODI side, hailing the youngster as the “natural successor or backup” to Hardik Pandya.
Ten Doeschate expressed satisfaction with the progress of India’s all-rounder depth, but also highlighted why Hardik continues to be a rare commodity in white-ball cricket.
“It’s really good. I would still say the majority of those guys are bowling all-rounders. And when Hardik is fit, he obviously brings a different element because he’s such a strong batter, such a strong finisher. A sort of role scarcity - it is difficult to find a finisher who gives you overs as well,” the assistant coach told reporters.
Hardik suffered a low-grade quadriceps strain during final training at the BCCI Centre of Excellence, ruling him out of the Afghanistan ODI series. He remains in Bengaluru for rehabilitation, delaying his return and forcing India to search for alternative seam-bowling balance in the playing XI.
That search put the spotlight on Nitish Reddy, with Ryan ten Doeschate noting the 23-year-old had shown enough over a sustained period to convince the team management of his potential.
“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.
The Indian team is expanding its pace-bowling depth to build lower-order batting strength for the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.
Ten Doeschate views players like Gurnoor Brar and Harsh Dubey as key bowling all-rounder prospects capable of batting at No. 9, helping to accommodate three specialist seamers.
The emergence of these players allows India to adapt their team balance for pace-friendly South African conditions, where a spin-heavy setup may not always work.
“Certainly to see these other guys chipping in and working on their games, even someone like Gurnoor and Harsh, again, they’re 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,” the Dutchman said.
“Especially in South Africa, when you want to play three proper out-and-out seamers, those guys are going to need to bat. So yeah, a lot of good signs on the all-rounder front and also on the fast-bowling front.”
The Afghanistan ODI series has thrown a number of fresh pace options, with Gurnoor and Prince Yadav hogging the headlines attention.
Ten Doeschate said the team's cupboard of seamers has been restocked with the emergence of these names.
“I think it’s been refreshing this week to see Prince, to see Gurnoor, to see Auqib Nabi. All of a sudden, the cupboard of seamers is very full, which is a great sign for this team,” he remarked.