Adelaide [Australia], December 6 (ANI): India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate believes young all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has a “very high ceiling” after his swashbuckling display in the pink-ball Test against Australia’s leading pacers in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
It just took three innings for Nitish to prove his mettle against Australia’s proven world-class bowling attack. From Perth to Adelaide, the scenery changed, but the nature of Nitish’s batting stayed intact.
After adding crucial runs at the tail end in the first innings in Perth, Nitish went about business with his usual swagger and fiery strokeplay.
When India’s scoreboard was dwindling at 109/6, Nitish provided the much-needed firepower towards the end to take the touring party to a respectable total. Coming in at seven, Nitish added 42, laced with three fours and three sixes, propelling India’s score to 180.
“We’re so chuffed with him. From the prep week in Perth, where he looked like he still needed to figure things out, the way he worked in Perth and the game plans he implemented in Perth to get crucial runs there, I think getting us to 150 in that first game was amazing. Just the way he has gone about his work,” ten Doeschate said in the post-day press conference.
Nitish has smoked the ball six times past the boundary line, with five sixes coming off against pacers. The assistant coach admitted that Nitish is still raw and there is still a little bit of work to be done on him, he has shown signs of a player who has a very high ceiling.
“There’s still a little bit of work to do. He’s very raw, but for a young kid, a 21-year-old to come out like that and play three innings of the quality he has. Super exciting being backed to bat at No.7 in this game. There’s obviously a chat around about Washi not playing, but he’s done everything a young player could do in a very short space of time, and we think he’s got a very high ceiling,” Ten Doeschate added.
Despite Nitish’s individual brilliance, India found itself in a tough spot with Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne stitching up an unbetan 62-run partnership, propelling Australia to 86/1, trailing by 94 runs.
McSweeney and Labuschagne managed to see through the challenging hours to create a window for scoring runs. With the Indian seamers running out of steam, the duo capitalised by piling up boundaries towards the end of the day’s play.
As the game progressed towards Day 2, ten Doeschate affirmed there won’t be any surrendering from the Indian side, even though they appeared to be behind.
“This isn’t a team where the coaches need to go in the dressing room and tell the boys to do well. This is a very proud team that obviously wants to come here and do well,” he said.
“We feel slightly behind in the game, but there won’t be certainly any letting up and certainly won’t be any surrendering,” he added. (ANI)
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