Border-Gavaskar Trophy | Can Nitish the bowler be the answer to India’s balancing act in Tests?

India's search for a fast bowling all-rounder post-Kapil Dev continues, with Nitish Kumar showing promise in the current series.

Ever since Kapil Dev bowed out of the game after an ODI against the West Indies at Faridabad in 1994, India has been on a perennial search for the fast bowling all-rounder.

Early rival wickets and the insurance cover of runs down the order is a sought after trait in cricket. Kapil offered that and more, including safe hands and the 1983 World Cup!

Four decades since Kapil stepped aside, the quest for his replacement is now constricted by practical demands. The candidate should bowl at a reasonable speed, not necessarily express, and should score a few vital runs, not perhaps an unbeaten 175. Many cricketers were force-fitted into this toned-down requirement.

To be fair, Manoj Prabhakar was a strong contender, and at one time he opened the batting and bowling. Later, it was Ajit Agarkar’s turn. And over the years, Irfan Pathan, Stuart Binny, Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur, to name a few, have all been seen through the prism of the Kapil lens.

Even if M.S. Dhoni, earlier, and Rishabh Pant now, give that all-round punch, both as wicket-keeper and marauding batter, the seam-bowling willow-wielder is very much part of the selectors’ shopping list.

This demand for a player, who will lend balance, is again at play Down Under. Nitish Kumar seems to have answered the query for now and bowling coach Morne Morkel’s words at Perth, seem prophetic: “He is one of the young guys who has got that sort of batting all-round ability. He (as a bowler) can hold one end up and he hits the bat a little bit harder than you think. It is a lovely opportunity for him to fill that all-rounder spot. He is a player you can keep your eye on in this series.”

In the current Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, his maiden foray in Tests, Nitish has scored 163, averaging 54.33, and like Pant, has played shots that defy conventional field settings. The lofted drives straight down the ground or the scoops on either side behind the stumps have been from the top-drawer even if Pat Cummins nailed him on the ramp-shot at the Adelaide Oval where Australia pulled one back and levelled the series 1-1.