India’s Nitish Kumar Reddy hits a six during play in the first cricket test between India and Australia in Perth, Australia, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Trevor Collens)
IND vs AUS: Receiving their caps from Virat Kohli, Andhra Pradesh all-rounder 21-year-old Nitish Kumar Reddy along with Delhi pacer Harshit Rana became the latest Test debutants for India in the opening Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy at Perth. Reddy was the highest scorer with a knock of 41 runs in India’s first innings score of 150 and the all-rounder shared what Indian coach Gautam Gambhir had told him on how to cope against Australian fast bowlers.
“Even I heard a lot about Perth and I still remember the last practice we were having and after the practice, I had a chat with Gautam Sir and he was mentioning (that) when you get any bouncers, or something like that, sharp spells, you just take it on your shoulders. (He said) ‘Just feel like you are taking a bullet for your country’. That really helped me a lot. Like that just boosted me up. The Perth wicket, everyone was talking like there is a good bounce in this wicket (and) when he said that thing, and I felt like (I) needed to take bullets for (my) country. That’s the best thing I have heard from Gautam Sir,” Reddy told the media post the day’s play.
The 21-year-old had come to the crease with India reeling at 73 for 6 in their first innings and was involved in a 48-run partnership for the seventh wicket with Rishabh Pant and helped India reach a first inning’s total of 150 runs with him being the last man to fall. The all-rounder, who was part of the India A team against Australia A in the two unofficial Test matches this month, shared how he tackled Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
🧢 𝗖𝗮𝗽 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝘁. 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗵
Debutants @NKReddy07 & Harshit Rana received their #TeamIndia Cap from @imVkohli & @ashwinravi99 respectively 👌👌
WATCH the moment here 🎥🔽 #AUSvIND
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 22, 2024
“It was a great feeling. I always dreamt of playing for India and it was fantastic to receive the cap from Virat Kohli, who has been my idol since I started playing cricket. I just went with my plans and my partner Rishabh Pant is an attacking batter, and he was guiding me all the time. There was not much drift for Nathan Lyon and I decided to get some quick runs and help the team move ahead,” Reddy said.
With Australia ending the day at 67 for 7 in 27 overs in their first innings and still trailing India by 83 runs, Indian bowling attack led by skipper Jasprit Bumrah will hope to curtail the Australian innings soon. “Obviously, the wicket is helping a lot and so we don’t need to do much to get the wickets. So, we kept the discipline and eventually wickets came our way. At the break, we were discussing discipline in bowling. So, that’s what I guess Bumrah, Siraj and Harshit have done,” Reddy said.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 22-11-2024 at 18:46 IST
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