"He is not Hardik, who bowls at 140" - Former India selector reacts to youngster being picked for Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Former India chief selector MSK Prasad reckons Nitish Kumar Reddy, who has been picked for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, is unlikely to be as effective as Hardik Pandya. Prasad pointed out that Reddy does not have enough experience in red-ball cricket and is not very quick with the ball in hand.
After an impressive season for SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL 2024, Reddy was handed his India debut during the T20I series against Bangladesh earlier this month. The 21-year-old was named Player of the Match in the second game of the series for hammering 74 off 34 balls and picking up 2-23.
While the Andhra Pradesh-born cricketer is highly rated among India's young guns, Prasad believes his selection for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia might be premature. He told Star Sports (as quoted by Rediff.com):
"They are sure about his batting and that he can bowl 8-10 overs like Hardik Pandya used to bowl. But he is not Hardik, who bowls at 140. He just bowls at 125 to 130 kmph. I am just a little concerned with his experience in red ball cricket because he hasn't played the format enough."
"He did take about 25 wickets in a few of the last domestic seasons, but still, I'm concerned because of the kind of role we gave to Hardik back then after whatever Test cricket he had played. I hope he makes good use of the two India A matches he is supposed to play."
Incidentally, Prasad, who also hails from Andhra Pradesh, was among those who spotted Reddy's talent when he was playing Under-12 and Under-14 cricket.
India's squad for the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy
If we look at India's squad for the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, there are quite a few untested names. Bengal batter Abhimanyu Easwaran has been rewarded for some stellar performances in domestic cricket over the last few seasons. Apart from Reddy, pacer Harshit Rana has also not played Test cricket.
Among others, the likes of Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Sarfaraz Khan and keeper-batter Dhruv Jurel have only played a handful of red-ball games for India. Young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has made a brilliant start to his Test career, but batting in Australia will be a challenge of a completely different level.
India's squad for Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Abhimanyu Easwaran.
Traveling reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed.