Hardik has long been out of reckoning for a place in the Indian Test team. Having struggled from back injuries since 2018, the all-rounder limited himself to only white-ball cricket. In his absence from red-ball cricket over the last six years, India began to invest in Shardul Thakur, who was more a bowling all-rounder, having proven his worth as a batter with handy knocks as a tail-ender on many occasions. In fact, he was one of the key members of India’s win in Australia in the 2020/21 series.

Shardul was reportedly part of the discussion for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, however, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee picked Nitish, who only made his international debut last month in the home T20I series against Bangladesh.

Speaking to Jatin Sapru on his YouTube channel, Harbhajan questioned the absence of Shardul and Hardik and he felt India have no other option but to play Nitish as the fifth-bowling option in Perth.

“You needed an all-rounder like Hardik Pandya. But you don’t have an option but to play Nitish Kumar Reddy. Where is Shardul Thakur gone? Where is Hardik Pandya gone? We just confined 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 are asking Nitish to bowl,” he said.

‘Nitish can play Sourav Ganguly-like role’

The Andhra all-rounder has so far played only 23 First-Class matches, scoring 779 runs at 21.05 with one century and two fifties. He also picked 56 wickets at 26.98, comprising two five-wicket hauls.

Harbhajan felt Nitish could play a role similar to how former India captain Ganguly used to assist the bowlers with his medium-pace variery.

“What he can do is just bowl a few overs here and there like Sourav Ganguly did, and if he gets 1-2 wickets, then that would be a bonus,” he said.