BGT, Aus vs Ind – Morne Morkel says Nitish Kumar Reddy is one to watch this series

On By Littum

Watch out for Nitish Kumar Reddy this series, says Morne Morkel. India’s bowling coach is hoping that the bowling attack they have brought over to Australia can cause problems, especially with the conditions in Perth.

Morkel has had his work cut out over the last few days, overseeing a set of bowlers who have not had much experience of playing Test cricket. India’s stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah and his usual new-ball partner Mohammed Siraj had a good workout under the sun on the Optus Stadium nets, but their support acts – the inimitable duo of Reddy and Harshit Rana along with two-Test veteran Prasidh Krishna – have a tough challenge, replicating the success they have had at home and India-A level on a full-fledged Test tour. Morkel has helped bridge this gap by sharing his own experiences playing in Australia.

“It’s great to have them in the squad,” Morkel said of Prasidh and the other specialist fast bowler in the squad, Harshit Rana. “I think they add a lot of variety to their attack, especially Harshit, who bowls at a good pace, also finds a way to pull some bounce out of the surface.

“It’s their first tour, Prasidh had some experience with India. A tour where he had some playing time but for Harshit it’s a little unknown. My message to him was just when I toured my first time here, To play in Australia , a scary place, to listen to the stories, take their advice.

“(Reddy) is one of those young guys that we’ve mentioned, he’s got that kind of batting, all-round ability. He’s going to be a guy that can kind of keep that one up first. He swings the bat a little bit harder than you think. So on those kinds of conditions where there might be a little bit of seam movement up front, he’ll be a very accurate wicket-to-wicket style – a nice option for him to hold that all-round spot.

“Every team in the world has always wanted the all-rounder to take that load off your fast bowlers, just to give them that extra bit of breathing time. So how we use him, how Jasprit will use him, with maybe the spinner, to give even whoever is going to be the other quick, time to breathe a little bit, he’s a guy who’s a player to watch in this series.

India’s batting may also depend on some of their newer players coming through if Devdutt Padikkal performs at no. 3 and Dhruv Jurel as no. 6.

“It’s going to be great learning for these guys,” Morkel said. “These are young guys who can come up and front up against a quality Test bowling pack. Australia aren’t going to bowl you many bad balls but when you say that, you know, there’s good leadership in the group to help and set nerves calm for that so I think as a group we are all excited for the challenge, we know what’s coming, we know the wicket is going to be quick, it’s going to be bouncy and it’s up to the individual now to formulate their game plans and put themselves in a mental kind of fighting mode that for the next 43 days it’s going to be tough cricket.”

India is waiting for Gill’s fitness

Morkel also said that fitness player Shubman Gill, who hurt his left thumb while playing in the pre-series intra-squad match, is being tracked on a day-to-day basis.

“Shubman is improving every day, obviously took a nasty hit in the fake game, in the team game. I think with him it’s going to be kind of a daily process, fingers crossed for that improvement, but I think they’ll wait (and not ) call him until the morning (of the battle).”

Gill was present for training on Wednesday but that was the extent of his participation, although the rest of the squad got in full training under the sun. He just hung out with Rishabh Pant for a while and then left. The chances of him playing in Perth in two days are still slim. Padikkal, who has been added to the squad now after being asked to stay back in Australia following his stint with the India A team, is shaping up to be a stop-gap no. 3 batters.

Alagappan Muthu is the sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo