Nitish Reddy to debut, India could play 4 seamers at Perth: Reports

Nitish Kumar Reddy’s dream run could continue as the Andhra Pradesh all-rounder is likely to make his Test debut in the first match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. 

In a report by ESPN cricinfo, it was said that since Rohit Sharma is unlikely to play in the first Test and Jasprit Bumrah is likely to lead, India would look to strengthen their batting by playing an all-rounder instead of an out-and-out pacer. In all likelihood, India could play four pacers and the fourth one could be Reddy. 

The 21-year-old who made his national debut earlier this year against Bangladesh, would be India's pick based on the fact that Optus Stadium is made from the same soil as the Western Australia Cricket Association Stadium (WACA) in the same city, just across the Swan river. 

Apart from Bumrah himself, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna and Reddy are the other five fast bowling options. Mohammed Shami, who made his Ranji Trophy comeback in the last round against Madhya Pradesh, is not part of the squad. 

Reddy was picked ahead of Shardul Thakur in the squad, purely because of his better batting abilities. “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 had said about picking Reddy. 

So far in 21 First-Class matches, Reddy has taken 56 wickets, hit two fifties and a century, making a strong case for his selection on a pace-friendly wicket. 

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