“It looked like he was given the ball because India had no option but to bowl him” - Ex-cricketer slams Shubman Gill for his poor decisions vs NZ

Former Indian cricketer and commentator Subramaniam Badrinath wasn’t happy with a few decisions taken by the Indian ODI skipper Shubman Gill in the third and final ODI against New Zealand as India suffered a 1-2 series win on Sunday, January 18, in Indore.

Speaking exclusively on his YouTube channel, Badrinath asserted that Gill had decided to bowl with Nitish Kumar Reddy for eight overs ‘just for the sake of it’, but not because he is a good bowler, adding that he was given the ball, just because he was picked in the XI.

"Okay he scored a half century. But other than that, they gave him eight overs with the ball just for the sake of it and not because he is a good bowler. It looked like he was given the ball only because they had picked him and had no option but to bowl him," Badrinath said on his YouTube channel.

"What is he doing in the team and in what position? All these questions come up because if such an inexperienced New Zealand side has beaten India at home, there is definitely something wrong somewhere," he added.

Nitish Kumar Reddy had a mixed ODI series as Hardik Pandya’s backup all-rounder in the latter’s absence from the series. While he wasn’t part of the XI in the first ODI, he could score only 20 runs in an important fixture in the second ODI and drew criticism from Team India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate for not "doing a heck of a lot" with his opportunities. 

However, he responded in the third and final ODI in Indore, scoring 53 runs off 57 balls, stitching an 88-run partnership with Virat Kohli. Nevertheless, he failed to scalp a wicket despite bowling a total of eight overs in the final ODI.

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