Nitish Kumar Reddy was touted as the heir apparent to Hardik Pandya in red ball cricket.
The 21-year-old showed promise on his debut in Perth on Friday. He didn’t get a chance to bowl but was India’s highest scorer with 41 in a total of 150.
Reddy added 48 for the seventh wicket with Rishabh Pant (37) to carry India from 73/6 to 121. On a lively Perth wicket when the top-order floundered, he showed the courage and application to wriggle out of a tough situation.
He conceded being a tad nervous at the start. “I heard a lot about the Perth wicket. There was a bit of nervousness. It was in the back of my mind that everyone was talking about the bounce on the Perth wicket. But then I remembered the chat I had with Gautam (Gambhir) sir after our last practice session,” Nitish said at a news conference after the opening day.
“He was mentioning that ‘when you get a bouncer, take it on your shoulder. It was like taking a bullet for your country’. That just served as a boost... when he said that I needed to take the bullet for the country. That’s the best thing I have heard from Gautam sir,” he added.
“We (he and Harshit Rana) got to know about our debut just one day ago, and we were excited. We were having dinner and we were keeping calm as last week.
“We did not want to take too much pressure. We had a cycle ride as well last evening, so that was good,” he said.
Nitish was delightfully surprised when former captain and his idol, Virat Kohli, handed him the Test cap in the morning.
“It was a great feeling. Viratbhai has been my idol since I started playing cricket. So getting a cap from himwas a happy moment for me,” he gushed.
Reddy was realistic about the beginning he made in Test cricket and his stint with India A helped in preparation.
“It was a good start, not a dream innings but a good start. To be honest, the India A series helped me a lot because it was my first time to Australia,” he said.
“I felt there was more (help) off the wicket here (than at the MCG), but apart from that the bounce and everything was the same as Melbourne.”
He needs to continue with his exploits in the coming days.