Shubman Gill won the toss and chose to bowl first in first ODI between India and New Zealand.
India captain Shubman Gill won the toss and chose to bowl first. He also revealed that India was playing three spinners in Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kuldeep Yadav. Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, and Mohammed Siraj were the two pacers picked.
Irfan Pathan went on a rampage during JioStar's post-toss program after Reddy was snubbed again.
"If you don't play him, you can't groom him as an all-rounder. He gets picked, travels with the team, but doesn't feature in the XI. There must be some reason why he isn't getting picked," Irfan said on JioHotstar after the playing XI was named in the first ODI.
It is not the first time Irfan has campaigned for Reddy's inclusion in the team. Even on his YouTube channel, the former India all-rounder encouraged the management to give Reddy more opportunities in the team.
"Nitish Kumar Reddy should be given more opportunities, even if he fails. There are not many all-rounders who can bowl at 130 kmph and can bat in the middle order. Hardik Pandya became the player he is now because he played regularly for the first 2-3 years. The selectors, the team management, and fans will have to be patient with Nitish Kumar Reddy as well, just like they were with Pandya in the past," Irfan had earlier said on his YouTube channel.
"If we don't show patience, then we will never see the potential turn into performances. So far, the performances have not come from Nitish Kumar Reddy. After the Test Hundred in Melbourne, we have not seen anything special from him in Tests. When he has had opportunities in white-ball cricket, even there, he has not done well. But there are no other players with such a skillset," he added.