Nitish Kumar Reddy earned his Test debut in the opening match of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25 at the Optus Stadium in Perth. From there onwards, he has not looked behind and has been a revelation down the order with the bat. He has batted at number seven and has been the fourth seamer in the side. Reddy has scored 163 runs in four innings so far at an average of 54.33 and a strike-rate of 87.17. He has also picked up two wickets with the ball.
India won the first Test match in Perth but lost the second in Adelaide against the Pink ball. So, there are expected to be some changes going into the third Test in Brisbane starting on December 14. Former India cricketer, Sanjay Manjrekar remarked that Nitish Kumar Reddy possesses exceptional batting talent, which is evident. He suggested that Reddy’s talent might even improve when facing higher-quality bowling. Manjrekar also noted that while Reddy hasn’t scored many runs in first-class cricket, his rare batting talent is unmistakable.
What did Sanjay Manjrekar say about Nitish Kumar Reddy?
“Exceptional batting talent there, and you can see it. Maybe the kind of batting talent that gets better with higher-quality bowling. He hasn’t got many runs in first-class cricket, but you can see the rare batting talent there,” he commented.
Manjrekar stated that India needs to consider the balance of their team. He pointed out that they must work on sharpening their bowling while also addressing their batting concerns. He acknowledged that Nitish has shown some promise recently. He also mentioned that someone had suggested playing Nitish purely as a batter, but he felt this could be a bit risky and perhaps premature.
“India also has to think about the balance of the team. India also have to look to make their bowling sharper along with solving the batting issues. Nitish has shown some spark at the moment. Somebody suggested, what about playing him as a pure batter in the side. Bit risky, bit too early”, he added.
Team India lost the second Test in Adelaide by 10 wickets and might bring in Akash Deep in Brisbane. However, it remains to be seen if they bring him in for Nitish Kumar Reddy or Harshit Rana. Gabba is one of the fastest and bounciest wickets in the world. So, it might be an all-pace attack in the next Test.
