'This fast tracking of Nitish Reddy for Tests serves no purpose': Former India pacer warns against picking an 'undercooked' all-rounder in Perth Test

Former Kenya coach Dodda Ganesh wants India to include a genuine fast bowler or a batter in the side for the Perth Test instead of banking on services of Nitish Kumar Reddy.

Sports Tak

• Mon • 18 Nov 2024

Nitish Kumar Reddy of India A bowls during the internal practice match between India and India A at the WACA on November 15, 2024 in Perth.

Nitish Kumar Reddy, Yashasvi Jaiswal

Highlights:

Nitish Kumar Reddy picked just one wicket in two games against Australia A.

The fast-bowling all-rounder made his T20I debut last month.

All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy got his maiden Test call-up for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Before the five-Test series, he played for India A to adapt to the conditions. Amidst reports of him making his Test debut in the series opener at the Optus Stadium, Perth, former India pacer Dodda Ganesh has cautioned team management against it. Ganesh wants a speciallist batter or a bowler in the playing eleven instead of an all-rounder.

"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," Ganesh wrote in a post via his X account.

How Reddy fared in red-ball cricket in Australia

Reddy bagged just one wicket in the two games against Nathan McSweeney's India. He could not convert starts into big scores. From four innings, he scored 71 runs with a high score of 38. He bowled in the two-day match simulation at the WACA Stadium in Perth as well.

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Reddy's debut T20I series

Last month, Reddy impressed head coach Gautam Gambhir in the three-T20I series against Bangladesh at home. He scored 90 runs including a 74-run knock. With the ball, he took three wickets and conceded runs at nearly eight runs per over.

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In the pre-departure press conference, Gambhir made it clear that they have moved on from Shardul Thakur who made his last Test appearance against South Africa in 2023.

“The decision to pick Reddy ahead of Shardul is also about moving forward. I think we’ve picked the best squad who can do the job for us. We all know how incredibly talented Nitish Reddy is and if given an option, he will deliver for us,” Gambhir told the reporters.

India’s squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.

Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed