India should go with a specialist batter or a specialist bowler if want to bolster their line-up for the first Test of the much-anticipated Test series in Australia and should refrain from playing Nitish Kumar Reddy, former fast bowler Dodda Ganesh has said. Nitish was picked in the 18-man squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, starting …
Border-Gavaskar Trophy | Fast-tracking Nitish Reddy makes no sense: Ex-India pacer on Perth Test rumours
India should go with a specialist batter or a specialist bowler if want to bolster their line-up for the first Test of the much-anticipated Test series in Australia and should refrain from playing Nitish Kumar Reddy, former fast bowler Dodda Ganesh has said. Nitish was picked in the 18-man squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, starting November 22 in Perth.
The fast-bowling all-rounder is likely to make his debut for India in the first Test in Perth, according to reports. The all-rounder is in the mix after Australian media claimed that the pitch at the Optus Stadium in Perth will have enough pace and bounce to aid the fast bowlers.
Nitish, 21, made his India debut earlier this year in a T20I series against Bangladesh. The all-rounder impressed, scoring 90 runs, including a quickfire 74 in Delhi, and taking 3 wickets. Nitish was added to India’s travelling reserves for the home series against New Zealand after which the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel was named in the extended 18-man squad for the Australia Tests.
“Either pick a genuine bowler, or go with a genuine batter if you feel the batting needs to be bolstered. This fast-tracking of Nitish Reddy for tests serves no purpose. He is still undercooked to be playing the longer format,” Dodda Ganesh said in a post on X on Monday.
Nitish Kumar Reddy played both the unofficial Tests for India against Australia earlier this month. Nitish struggled to do well with the bat, managing 71 runs overall, in MacKay and Melbourne on pitches that were not conducive for batting. He picked a wicket in four innings.
However, Nitish was able to impress the team management with a solid batting show and threatening bowling spells in the intra-squad warm-up sessions at the iconic WACA Stadium in Perth last week.
While Nitish shone for SunRisers Hyderabad in IPL 2024 to shoot into the limelight, he has been a consistent performer in red-ball cricket at the domestic level. He has scored 779 runs, including a hundred and two fifties, in 23 matches and has picked up 56 wickets, including two five-wicket hauls.
India are fretting over their team combination for the first Test as they are likely to miss captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. India will be looking to bolster their batting unit without compromising on their bowling resources. The absence of Mohammed Shami, who has not been named in the squad due to injury, is also a cause for concern.
