'Shubman Gill can definitely work on his bowling rotations, show some creativity in the field placings. He will have to come into a Test match with more preparation.'
Spin maestro Ravichandran Ashwin questioned India's team selection for the West Indies Test series, highlighting the curious case of Nitish Reddy's inclusion over proven match-winner Axar Patel as the all-rounder.
Reddy had a limited role in the series, bowling only four overs while he scored 43 in the only innings in the series after being promoted to No 5 in the second Test in Delhi.
Interestingly, even Yashasvi Jaiswal bowled an over of part-time leg-spin during the second innings of the Delhi Test, but Reddy was not called up to bowl even once despite West Indies building defiant partnerships.
Ashwin expressed confusion on why India included an all-rounder whom they didn't trust to bowl even a few overs.
"If this is Nitish Reddy's role, I feel you can play a specialist batter or a bowler. You could include Axar Patel, what more does he need to do? He has been a match-winner both with bat and ball in the last few years," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel Ash ki Baat.
"When does Nitish Reddy come into play? I am not saying you play an extra bowler, I am saying you play a specialist batter then. Axar has done much better than Nitish in this role, he has one of the best defence against spin in the team.," he added.
"When does Nitish Reddy come into the equation? When you are playing just one pacer among Jasprit Bumrah or Mohammed Siraj on a turning wicket or a slow low wicket, then Nitish Reddy becomes your second seamer and batter. You will get batting depth as well."
Axar has an impressive record with the ball in Tests played at home, claiming 55 wickets in 14 matches at an average of 19.34, while scoring 646 runs at an average of 35.88 with four fifties.
In contrast, Reddy, primarily a batting all-rounder, has scored 386 runs in nine Tests at an average of 29.69, including one century, while taking eight wickets at an average of 39.62.
"Axar Patel has the best defense against spin, so if you're not using him, especially when choosing between Siraj, Bumrah and a second seamer, then Nitish can play for batting depth, otherwise I don't see a point. Nitish is a fine batter but there could a bit more role definition," he noted.
He also offered advice to Shubman Gill, asking the young skipper to prepare better for a Test match.
"Shubman Gill can definitely work on his bowling rotations, show some creativity in the field placings. He will have to come into a Test match with more preparation," he said.
"In my view, Shubman doesn't have much experience, and the shortage of experience was clear from the outside. I think he has definitely has the confidence after scoring in England, but tactically rotation of bowlers, fielding placements, preparations for a game, he has to work on it."
"It was very visible, the way this game was going you could feel that he needed the help as to what to do next. Many times in such conditions, you will not get a wicket every session, so the bowlers need to be given long spells. There were several times when the spinners were bowling 3-4 over spells, you can't do that. That is impatience."