Nitish Kumar Reddy on Friday conceded that the popularity of Perth being a quick bowler’s paradise made him a tad nervous forward of his Check debut towards Australia however the jitters vanished when he recalled head coach Gautam Gambhir’s recommendation — face the bouncers as if “you’re taking a bullet for the nation”. Nitish made a formidable 41 off 59 balls that lent a semblance of respectability to India’s general poor batting effort that yielded 150 of their first innings on the Optus Stadium.
“I heard so much concerning the Perth wicket. There was a little bit of nervousness. It was at the back of my thoughts that everybody was speaking concerning the bounce on Perth wicket. However then I remembered the chat I had with Gautam sir after our final apply session,” Nitish advised reporters in the course of the post-day press meet.
“He was mentioning that ‘if you get a bouncer, take it in your shoulder. It was like taking a bullet to your nation’. That simply boosted me. When he stated that I felt that I wanted to take the bullet for the nation. That is the perfect factor I’ve heard from Gautam sir,” he added.
The 21-year-old revealed that he was advised concerning the impending debut a day forward of the primary Check, however gathered himself with a quiet dinner and a night spherical of biking.
“We acquired to know (him and pacer Harshit Rana) about our debut simply someday in the past, and we had been excited. We had been having dinner and we had been conserving calm as final week.
“We didn’t need to take an excessive amount of stress. We had a cycle journey as effectively final night, in order that was good.” he stated.
Nitish was delightfully stunned when star batter and his idol, Virat Kohli, handed him the Check cap within the morning.
“It was a terrific feeling (getting a cap from Kohli). I’ve all the time dreamed about enjoying for India and it was a incredible second. Virat bhai is my idol once I began enjoying cricket. So getting a cap from him was a contented second for me,” he gushed.
Nitish was sensible concerning the starting he made in Check cricket, and admitted that enjoying for India A at Melbourne just lately helped him perceive the Australian situations.
“It was a great begin, not a dream innings however a great begin. To be sincere, the India A sequence helped me so much as a result of it was my first time to Australia.
“Enjoying on this wicket in comparison with India, there are numerous variations, the bounce and so on. I felt there was extra (assist) off the wicket right here (than at MCG), however aside from that the bounce and all the pieces was the identical as Melbourne,” he detailed.
Maybe, that have mirrored in his assault of Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon, whom he carted for a couple of boundaries, together with a reverse sweep.
“I believed the wicket was good for the quick bowlers and I needed to make runs. When Nathan Lyon was bowling I noticed two or three balls with none drift. So, I considered taking over Lyon in order that we get some fast runs,” he stated.
Nitish and Rishabh Pant added 48 runs for the seventh wicket to hold India from 73 for six to 121 earlier than the latter acquired out for 37.
The Andhra cricketer stated it was a great expertise enjoying with Pant.
“It was good, you understand, Rishabh is an aggressive batsman. He is aware of his sport effectively and he was guiding me at the moment as effectively. So, it was good enjoying with Rishabh,” he added.
The Indian bowling unit underneath Jasprit Bumrah counterpunched to cut back the Aussies to 67 for seven at shut, and Nitish stated self-discipline was the watch phrase of the visiting bowlers.
“We had been making an attempt to hit the proper areas. We had been discussing disciplined bowling, so that is what I feel Bumrah, Siraj and Harshit have performed.
“Clearly, the wicket helps so much and we needn’t do so much to get the wicket, simply bowl in the proper areas and let the ball do the remainder,” he stated.
Nitish additionally lauded Bumrah’s captaincy.
“He is excellent…issues like change of overs and spells had been actually good,” he stated.
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
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