Legendary Sunil Gavaskar has lavished praise on Nitish Kumar Reddy after India secured a dominant seven-wicket win in the second T20I against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Tuesday. 

Reddy, who had returned with expensive figures of 0-20 in two overs he bowled in the series opener, bounced back in the second game. The all-rounder bagged 3-24, which is his best T20I figures, in three overs he bowled.

Reddy accounted for Gulbadin Naib, Ibrahim Zadran and Rashid Khan in his fine spell. The SRH all-rounder changed his pace with guile to bamboozle the opposition batters.

Gavaskar said all-rounders like Reddy, Suryansh Shedge and Venkatesh Iyer should be motivated when they don’t have a good day with the ball.

“Nitish Kumar Reddy is a very fine prospect. When he started in the IPL, he wasn’t much of a bowler then, in that first year before he went to Australia. He was more of a batter. The batting technique was very good. A couple of overs he bowled towards the end of that first season, that’s where he looked as if he could be a very fine all-round cricketer,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Sony Sports.

“Venkatesh Iyer, Suryansh Shedge – these are all promising all-rounders, and they have to be given the opportunity to develop. Don’t rush them in. Develop them and also at the same time, encourage them when they don’t have a good match,” he added.

The Little Master added that batting all-rounders need to be encouraged to take their bowling more seriously.

“These are the guys you want to keep an eye on. Help them and encourage them to take their bowling also a little bit seriously because they are primarily in the team as batters. Sometimes when you are in the team primarily as batters, you tend to think as batters. If you start to think a little bit like bowlers, they will be absolutely fantastic, and India then has the options,” he observed.

The third and final T20I between Afghanistan and India will be played at Delhi on Thursday.