Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25: Nitish Kumar Reddy talks about his dream debut at the first Test in Perth
The HinduOn a day when 17 wickets fell at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Friday, one man, striding in at number eight, scored a 41. Nitish Reddy could not have asked for a better Test debut as first-up his idol Virat Kohli handed him the national cap and then he held his own against Australian captain Pat Cummins, who is also his Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper in the IPL. There was not much drift for Lyon and I decided to get some quick runs and help the team move ahead.” A seamer himself, Nitish did not get a chance to bowl on the opening day of the first Test against Australia but he felt inspired by the spells of Jasprit Bumrah and company: “Obviously the wicket is helping a lot and so we don’t need to do much to get the wickets. So that’s what I guess Bumrah, Siraj and Harshit have done.” On match-eve, Nitish had a quiet dinner with fellow debutant Harshit: “We knew about our selection and we just decided to be calm and not get too excited.” Acutely self-aware, Nitesh signed off: “This was a good start but it was not a dream innings. Need to continue like this.” Indian all-rounder Nitish Reddy recalled a chat he had with coach Gautam Gambhir in the lead-up to the first Test against Australia.