With Optus Stadium likely to produce a lively pitch for the opening Test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy is reportedly set to make his India Test debut there as the team's fourth pacer. The first match begins in Perth on Friday, November 22. (More Cricket News)
With Rohit Sharma missing the first Test in all likelihood following the birth of his second child, vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah will spearhead not just the bowling attack but also the team. Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna are the other seamers in the Indian squad. Mohammed Shami, who picked up seven wickets for Bengal in his comeback game in Ranji Trophy, is not part of the squad as of now.
And as all-rounder Hardik Pandya is not in the squad either, Reddy — the only seam-bowling all-rounder in the team for the Tests — is likely to play his maiden Test match in Perth, according to an Indian Express report.
Shardul Thakur, the other prominent pace-bowling all-rounder who had starred in India’s previous tour of Australia, is not in the scheme of things currently.
Responding to a query on why Reddy was picked ahead of Thakur, coach Gautam Gambhir had said at the pre-departure press conference: “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.”
Hailing from Visakhapatnam, Reddy has played 23 first-class games and picked up 56 wickets in addition to scoring one hundred and two fifties so far. He made his T20I debut in the three-match series against Bangladesh and played all three games, scoring 90 runs and picking up three wickets. The Andhra Pradesh batting-all-rounder has also done well for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League.
