The former opening batter of the Indian side, Aakash Chopra, has noted that Nitish Kumar Reddy, who is considered to be the potential premier seam all-rounder of the national side for the opening Test of the five-match series in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25, hasn’t gone through impressive performance in the two unofficial red-ball games between India A and Australia A.
With the bat, the Andhra Pradesh player managed only 71 runs in four innings at an average of 17.75 and a strike rate of 44.93, with the best score of 38. The mode of dismissals was a new concern for the selectors before the Perth Test. With the ball in hand, he could collect one solitary wicket in 31 overs.
Aakash Chopra, in a new video on his YouTube channel, addressed that the Visakhapatnam-born hadn’t been able to live up to his expectations in the two clashes.
“Nitish Kumar Reddy needs to be spoken about because the performance has been very cold in the two matches (between India A and Australia A). In batting, he hasn’t scored runs, and in bowling, he has picked up just one wicket.” The former Delhi batter expressed.
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The right-handed player featured in 21 first-class games before being selected in the India-A side for their trip to Australia. He could smash 708 runs at an average of under 20 with the help of two half-centuries and one century. With the ball, he has picked up 56 wickets in 42 innings at an average of 26.98.
“We are thinking of fast-tracking him for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He is the kind of player, medium pacer, and batter who provides us depth and balance because we won’t be able to play four pacers in Perth. We want to play four pace options, but the fourth cannot be an out-and-out pacer.” Aakash Chopra added in the video.
For the last trip of 2020/21 down under, the BCCI selectors used Shardul Thakur as their fast-bowling all-rounder, who made a significant contribution to the series victory. But his consistent injuries and some off-form haven’t worked in his favor this time around.
Aakash Chopra raises concerns about the expectations from Nitish Kumar Reddy
In that same trip to Australia in the 2020/21 summer, Shardul featured in just one game at the Gabba, where he bagged 69 runs at an average of 34.50 with a vital half-century in the first innings of the contest. He also enjoyed seven wickets in the encounter with a best figure of 4/61.
The 47-year-old wonders if Nitish Reddy could showcase the same talent of quality with both bat and ball in the upcoming BGT that Shardul or even Hardik Pandya displayed at the start of his career.
“Shardul used to be there, and we had expectations from Hardik. Now we have expectations from Nitish Kumar Reddy, but how? That is the big question. The recent performance, which has been seen now, is not very promising.” Aakash Chopra remarked.
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If he gets selected in the side, then India can think of using Ravindra Jadeja as their lone spin all-rounder and could put three premier seamers in the side, which will help them in getting the right balance of the team.
“That is why I am saying that we are showing a lot of confidence in Nitish Kumar Reddy, but I hope it works out because, firstly, the first-class experience is limited, and secondly, the returns in the two matches in Australia aren’t looking very promising with the bat and also with the ball.” Aakash Chopra concluded.