On Day 1 of the third Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at Lord’s, when England batted, everyone looked up to India’s pace attack leaders – Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Akash Deep – to strike early. But the breakthroughs were provided by an unexpected source. After close to an hour of desperate toil without reward, it was debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy who brought the spark, dismissing both openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley in his first over.
In a dramatic turn of events, Reddy was India’s surprise bowler on day one, outpacing the veteran pace group. In an interview with the media after stumps, Reddy gave credit to India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel as well as his SunRisers Hyderabad IPL captain Pat Cummins for guiding him in improving his bowling.
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Captain Shubman Gill tossed the ball to Reddy in the 14th over, and the young man ended up bowling almost 14 overs for the day. Interestingly, he was able to get more movement out of the surface than Bumrah, Siraj, or Akash Deep, strongly justifying his selection by a performance that exceeded expectations.
“After the Australia tour, I felt like I had to improve my bowling and my consistency. That’s what I looked about. And yeah, Pat is my captain, and he’s been brilliant in Australia, and I have asked him some tips, and he has been telling me how things would’ve been done in Australia, how I can go about it in Australia. And that’s a great experience for me, sharing with Pat Cummins,” Reddy told reporters.
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“I just asked Pat Cummins about the difference in bowling in Australia and England. This is my first tour. He said, ‘It’s not going to be a different change. You just watch the weather conditions and just play your game. Just try to learn as much as you can’,” he added.
