India bowling coach Morne Morkel has picked young all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy as the player to “keep an eye” in the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. The hype around the series between the two Test giants has been sumptuous as the series opener in Perth inches closer with each passing hour. While Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant and skipper Rohit Sharma have been tipped to play the deciding role in the series, Morkel threw another name in the fray. “Definitely a guy (Nitish) to keep an eye on in the series,” Morkel said during a press conference in Perth before the opening Test on Friday.
The youngster announced himself to the world with a terrific all-rounded display in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
While featuring for the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Nitish hammered 303 runs in 13 matches, averaging 33.67. He even chipped in with three wickets but his relentless power-hitting attribute stood out the most.
With just 23 first-class games under his belt, Nitish’s inclusion in the BGT series turned out to be a surprise for many.
It was evident that management is looking to fast-track Nitish to nurture him as the seam bowling option that India has desired most.
“He [Nitish Reddy] is one of the young guys. [There’s] all-round ability. He’ll be one guy who can hold one end up for us, especially for the first couple of days,” Morkel said. “[He’s a] wicket-to-wicket bowler. Any team in the world would want an all-rounder who can help pacers. It’ll be on Jasprit [Bumrah] how he uses them,” Morkel added.
If one looks at Nitish’s performance in red-ball cricket, he seems to be a bit undercooked to feature in one of the biggest Test series.
In those 23 appearances, Nitish has managed to put up 779 runs on the board, averaging just 21.05. With the ball, he has made more of an impact, scything 56 scalps with an average of 26.98.
In the recent unofficial Test between India A and Australia A, Nitish didn’t have an ideal outing, with 38 being his top score and a sole wicket across four innings.
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