In the clearest hint yet about the possibility of Nitish Reddy's Test debut in Perth, India's bowling coach Morne Morkel heaped praise on the 21-year-old and reckoned he can 'hold one end up' for India during the five Tests in Australia.
INDIA'S TOUR OF AUSTRALIA, 2024-25
Nitish Reddy a guy to keep an eye on this series - Morne Morkel
"He'll be one guy who can hold one end up for us, especially for the first couple of days." © Getty
The all-rounder from Andhra has made rapid strides in 2024, starting with an eye-catching IPL season and his T20I bow soon after. He has just 23 first-class games to his name but gives the team the profile of a player (seam-bowling allrounder) they've always wanted on overseas tours.
Nitish played in both the A games in Mackay and Melbourne, forging two solid partnerships with Dhruv Jurel in the second fixtures. He also bowled 31 overs across four innings, conceding runs at under three-an-over in three of them.
"[Nitish Reddy] is one of the young guys that we've mentioned. He's got that batting [and] all-round ability. He'll be a guy that can sort of hold that one end up for us. He hits the bat a little bit harder than you think. So on these sort of conditions where there might be a little bit of seam movement up front, especially the first couple of days, he'll be a handy bowler. He's very accurate, a wicket-to-wicket style of bowler. It's a lovely opportunity for him to fill that allrounder spot."
"Any team in the world always wanted the allrounder to take that load off your fast bowlers, just to give them an extra bit of breathing time. So how we use him, how Jasprit is going to use him, with maybe the spinner, to give himself, whoever's going to be the other quicks, time to catch their breath a little bit is going to be important. He's definitely a guy that is a player you can keep your eye on in this series."
As far as keeping tabs goes, Indian management have also got their eyes on Mohammed Shami, who has made a strong comeback in a domestic game. He picked seven wickets across two innings in the Ranji game for Bengal against Madhya Pradesh in his first competitive match back in action after a year of being sidelined with injury. He bowled a total 43.2 overs in the fixture and came away unscathed. Cricbuzz had
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