Nitish Kumar Reddy is eyeing a bigger role as India look for backup to Hardik Pandya

Dharamshala: India’s Nitish Kumar Reddy (Image: PTI) DHARAMSHALA: The Indian team management have pinned their hopes on Nitish Kumar Reddy’s evolution as an all-rounder as they look for a stable alternative to injury-prone Hardik Pandya. On Saturday, in the middle of Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s Afghan opening attack on the Indian attack, when captain Shubman Gill threw the ball to Reddy, he responded with four impressive overs at 2/31 to limit the visitors’ innings.Reddy understands that when Hardik returns, it will be difficult for him to retain his place in the playing XI. To make the most of the opportunities that might arise, he has worked hard to improve his bowling skills over the past year, including working with UK-based bowling coach Stefan Jones.“I figured I was a front bowler and started working on my stride lengths because I wanted to be a lot quicker in the run-up. It changed my bowling action a bit. It’s going well now and there are some improvements which I hope to make in the coming days,” said Reddy.Reddy was understandably reluctant to divulge details about working with Jones. “It’s been seven days that we’ve been working together. We’ve been discussing the specifics and working on them and we’ve identified some points that I need to change a little bit in my specific bowling. We’re working on that, basically that’s what we want to achieve in the coming days,” he said.