Sunil Gavaskar praises Nitish Kumar Reddy’s batting

Gavaskar says, “Definitely better than Hardik Pandya..”

Sunil Gavaskar reserved some high praise for Nitish Kumar Reddy, likening him to Hardik Pandya. Nitish, 21, a young and shining cricketer from Team India, has been making quite a reputation for himself in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia. He has emerged as a crisis man, repeatedly bailing India out of tricky situations. He made an incredible maiden century in the first innings in the recently concluded Melbourne Test.

Sunil Gavaskar praises Nitish Kumar Reddy for his batting.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar is mighty impressed with Nitish Kumar Reddy’s resolve, calling him one of the “brightest young stars in Indian cricket.” He said Nitish’s batting is better than Hardik Pandya’s when the latter started playing for Team India. In his column for Sportstar, Gavaskar wrote, “The Melbourne Test brought to the fore one of the brightest young stars in Indian cricket, Nitish Kumar Reddy. He came to the attention of Indian cricket fans with his performances for the Hyderabad franchise in the IPL, and while he had not done much at the first-class level, it’s a credit to Ajit Agarkar and his fellow selectors to have seen enough to pitchfork him into the Test arena. In his debut Test match in Perth itself, it became evident that here was a cricketer who could read situations and play accordingly. With every subsequent Test match, that impression of a good ‘cricketing head’ on his shoulders began to get stronger and stronger.”

“Definitely better than Pandya.”

Nitish Kumar Reddy had earlier registered precious 40-run knocks in Perth and Adelaide. But he made the entire world take notice with his century in Melbourne against Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland. Gavaskar said, “And in Melbourne when India was looking down the barrel, he came through the fire with an outstanding century that has cemented his place in the team for a long time to come. Ever since the unavailability of Hardik Pandya for Test cricket, India has been looking for an all-rounder who can bowl medium pace and bat as well. Reddy’s bowling is still a work in progress, but as a batter, he is definitely better than Pandya was around the same time.”

In the four Tests in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Nitish Kumar Reddy has scored 294 runs and taken 3 wickets.