Bounce in his step – The Tribune

Nitish Kumar Reddy admitted that Perth’s reputation as a fast bowler’s paradise made him a little nervous ahead of his Test debut against Australia, but the jitters dissipated when he remembered head coach Gautam Gambhir’s advice – face the bouncers as if “you’re taking a ball for the country Nitish made an impressive 41 off 59 balls that gave a hint of respectability to India’s overall poor batting effort.

“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 the Perth wicket. But then I remembered the chat I had with Gautam sir after our last practice session,” Nitish said. He mentioned that ‘when you get a bouncer, take it on your shoulder… like taking a bullet for your country’. It just boosted me. When he said that, I felt that I had to take the shot for the country. This is the best I have heard from Gautam sir,” he added.

The 21-year-old revealed he was told of the debut a day before the first Test but rallied with a quiet dinner and an evening cycle ride.

“We got to know (him and pacer Harshit Rana) about our debut just a day ago and we were excited. We ate dinner and we were calm. We didn’t want to take too much pressure. We also had a bike ride last night so that was good,” he said.

Nitish was pleasantly surprised when star batter and his idol, Virat Kohli, presented him with the Test cap in the morning. “It was a great feeling (getting a cap from Kohli). I always dreamed of playing for India and it was a great moment. Virat bhai is my idol when I started playing cricket. So getting the cap from him was a happy moment for me,” he said.

Nitish was realistic about the beginning he made in Test cricket and admitted that playing for India A in Melbourne recently helped him understand the Australian conditions.

“It was a good start, not a dream entry but a good start. To be honest, the India A series helped me a lot because it was my first time in Australia,” he said.