Indian all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy made his Test debut in the first match of the Border-Gavaskar series in Perth. He played a decent knock of 41 runs from 59 deliveries which massively helped India in reaching the 150-run mark. The knock included 6 boundaries and a six.
Nitish formed a good partnership of 48 runs with wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant who also played a decent inning of 37 from 78 deliveries. Following the conclusion of the first day, Nitish recalled head coach Gautam Gambhir’s advice – face the bouncers as if ‘you are taking a bullet for the country’.
“I heard a lot about the Perth wicket. There was a bit of nervousness. It was in the back of my mind that everyone was talking about the bounce on Perth wicket. But then I remembered the chat I had with Gautam sir after our last practice session,” Nitish told reporters during the post-day press meet.
“He was mentioning that ‘when you get a bouncer, take it on your shoulder. It was like taking a bullet for your country’. That just boosted me. When he said that I felt that I needed to take the bullet for the country. That’s the best thing I have heard from Gautam sir,” Nitish added.
The 21-year-old revealed that him and pacer Harshit Rana, who also made his debut with the Perth Test, gathered themselves with a quiet dinner and an evening round of cycling a day before the first Test.
“We got to know (him and pacer Harshit Rana) about our debut just one day ago, and we were excited. We were having dinner and we were keeping calm as last week. We did not want to take too much pressure. We had a cycle ride as well last evening, so that was good,” Nitish said.
The all-rounder also said that he was delightfully surprised when his idol Virat Kohli presented him with his debut Test cap in the morning.
“It was a great feeling (getting a cap from Kohli). I have always dreamed about playing for India and it was a fantastic moment. Virat bhai is my idol when I started playing cricket. So getting a cap from him was a happy moment for me,” Nitish said.
