Nitish Reddy Impresses In Debut Series, Sunil Gavaskar Compares Him To Hardik Pandya
Nitish Kumar Reddy made his dream debut come true in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. From getting his debut cap from his idol Virat Kohli to scoring a century in front of him and witnessing Virat's century with him in the field, Reddy came a long way. The 21-year-old player turned out to be a key player for India in the crucial times. The best example of this was seen in the recently concluded Tests at Melbourne, where he scored his maiden Test century, scoring 114 runs. However, India lost to Australia by 184 runs.
Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar is quite impressed by the young debutant Nitish Reddy for his exceptional performance in the series, describing Reddy as the 'brightest star' of India. He gave credit to Ajit Agarkar and his fellow teammates for selecting him in the series.
"The Melbourne Test brought to the fore one of the brightest young stars in Indian cricket, Nitish Kumar Reddy. He came to the attention of Indian cricket fans with his performances for the Hyderabad franchise in the IPL, and while he had not done much at the first-class level, it's a credit to Ajit Agarkar and his fellow selectors to have enough to pitchfork him into the Test arena."
Further, he said that Reddy, in his debut match at Perth, only showed his capability to read situations and play accordingly, and that became stronger test by test.
"In his debut Test match in Perth itself, it became evident that here was a cricketer who could read situations and play accordingly. With every subsequent Test match, that impression of a good 'cricketing head' on his shoulders began to get stronger and stronger."
"Reddy is better than Pandya." - Sunil Gavaskar.
Gavaskar said that Reddy was up like a stone in the Melbourne Test, where India needed him the most, and that century cemented his spot in the team for a long time to come.
"In Melbourne, when India was looking down the barrel, he came through the fire with an outstanding century that has cemented his place in the team for a long time to come."
In the end, he said that since Hardik Pandya remained unavailable for the Test, India was looking for an all-rounder. He also said that Reddy needs to work on his bowling, but as a batter, he is better than Hardik Pandya.
"Ever since the unavailability of Hardik Pandya for Test cricket, India has been looking for an all-rounder who can bowl medium pace and bat as well. Reddy's bowling is still a work in progress, but as a batter, he is better than Pandya was around the same time."