From 'this selection is more in hope' to 'here is a real good prospect': How Nitish Kumar Reddy forced Indian legend to change tune
Team India's batting all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy came up with yet another impressive performance on Day 1 of the second BGT 2024-25 Test against Australia in Adelaide on Friday, December 6. He top-scored for the visitors in the first innings, hitting 42 off 54 as India were bowled out for 180.
Batting first after winning the toss in the pink-ball Test, India were in deep trouble at 141-8. Reddy, though, played some enterprising strokes to give the Indian innings a boost. His knock included three fours and three sixes before he was the last man out, becoming Mitchell Starc's sixth victim of the innings.
While analyzing Reddy's impressive batting effort, Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar hailed the youngster. In a video posted on ESPNcricinfo.com, he commented:
"Well, I think it was a very good innings. He showed good appreciation of the need of the situation and attacked at the right time when the fielders were inside the circle. Even when the fielders were out at the fence that over from Scott Boland, the way he was looking to play the pull shot; the reverse scoop was outstanding.
"He was looking to play off the right balls, and it shows that he has got the right temperament. He is a young kid, just 22, but what he is showing is the fearlessness of youth. There is just that super confidence about him. Every time you see him on the field, you actually start to believe that here is a real good prospect for Indian cricket," Gavaskar added.
Gavaskar's comments were in stark contrast to the views he had expressed on Day 1 of the first Test in Perth, though. Slamming the Indian team for handing a debut to Reddy while dropping Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, he had said on air:
"Really surprised with Ashwin and Jadeja not playing. They have got 900 wickets between them in Test matches. They are not bowlers who can just play in Indian or sub-continent conditions. They are very clever bowlers. They are very experienced bowlers. Even if they might not get you wickets, they will be able to slow the scoring down because of the cleverness of how they bowl.
"I would have thought that on these Australian wickets, there are big boundaries, so I thought you would have gone with both of them. But this is a new management, new thinking. They have gone with Nitish Kumar Reddy, who is a promising cricketer; make no mistake about that. But is he ready for Test cricket?
"He has not played many first-class games, and, so, clearly, I think, this selection of Nitish is more in hope, nothing less. Like all Indian cricket followers, I hope it comes off," Gavaskar had added.
Well, considering how effusive Gavaskar was in praise of Reddy after his innings on Day 1 of the pink-ball Test, it seems like the 21-year-old has convinced the Indian batting great to change his opinion, which is no mean feat.
Nitish Reddy seems ready for the big stage
It has only been three Test innings, but Reddy has done enough to prove that, if groomed properly, he ould be a great future prospect. The right-handed batter had top-scored for India in the first innings of the first Test in Perth as well. In that game too, India had suffered a batting collapse, but Reddy's 41 dragged them to 150.
In the second innings, with India looking for a declaration, the youngster played a near-perfect cameo, hammering 38* off 27 with the help of three fours and two sixes. With his medium pace, the Andhra Pradesh cricketer dismissed Mitchell Marsh in the second innings to pick up his maiden Test scalp.
Reddy's excellent efforts in the Test series were acknowledged by Team India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate in the press conference after Day 1 of the pink-ball Test. Sharing his thoughts on the youngster, the former Netherlands player said:
"We're so chuffed with him. ... I think getting us to 150 in that first game was amazing. Just the way he went about his work. He is obviously playing his first pink-ball game. There's a little bit of work to do. He's very raw. ... He's done everything a young player could do in a very short space of time, and we think he's got a very high ceiling."
While Reddy has made an impactful start to his international career (he has also smashed a T20I fifty), these are still very early days for the batting all-rounder. How he responds to the challenges thrown at him once opposition teams work out his strengths and weaknesses will determine how far he goes.