Former Indian National Cricket Team player Harbhajan Singh has criticized the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for not selecting bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.

Harbhajan Singh questioned the selectors’ decision to ignore the likes of Shardul Thakur and Hardik Pandya in the Tests and pick youngster Nitish Reddy.

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Nitish Reddy to make his Test debut in Australia

The Indian national cricket team will take on the Australian national cricket team in the first Test of the five-match series in Perth starting November 22.

Young all-rounder Nitish Reddy will get his Test cap in Perth as several media outlets have reported that the team management has finalized the all-rounder in the playing XI.

Nitish Reddy was chosen instead of Shardul Thakur despite the latter’s past heroics. Thakur was the team’s main all-rounder in overseas trials over the last few years but was not considered for the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Meanwhile, Nitish Reddy will play the role of fourth seamer and will support Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and one of Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana.

So far, Reddy has played 3 T20Is for India and has done a good job. Talking about his first class record, he has played 23 matches and scored 779 runs at an average of 21.05. With the ball, he has taken 56 first-time wickets.

Where has Shardul Thakur gone? Where has Hardik Pandya gone? -Harbhajan Singh

Speaking to Jatin Sapru on his YouTube channel, Harbhajan Singh said that India needed an all-rounder like Pandya or Thakur for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but they have gone for Nitish Reddy.

“You needed an all-rounder like Hardik Pandya. But you have no option but to play Nitish Kumar Reddy. Where did Shardul Thakur go? Where did Hardik Pandya go? We just limited them to shorter formats. You needed a player like Hardik , we started investing in Shardul for the last 2-3 years, but where is he now? Suddenly, on a tour like this, you ask Nitish to bowl,” he said.

What you can do is just bowl a few overs here and there like Sourav Ganguly – Harbhajan Singh

The legendary spinner opined that Nitish Reddy is not a true all-rounder and can only contribute a few overs like Sourav Ganguly used to do for the Indian team during his playing days.

“What he can do is just bowl a few overs here and there like Sourav Ganguly did, and if he gets 1 or 2 wickets, it would be an advantage,” Harbhajan Singh said.