I was nervous, but Gautam Sir told me to take a shot for the country: Nitish Reddy

Nitish Kumar Reddy admitted on Friday that Perth’s reputation as a fast bowler’s paradise made him a little nervous ahead of his Test debut against Australia, but the nervousness disappeared when he called the head coach back. Gautam GambhirAdvice: Face the bouncers as if “you were taking a bullet for the country”.

Nitish made an impressive 41 from 59 balls, which gave a semblance of respectability to India’s overall batting effort, which yielded 150 in their first innings here at Optus Stadium.

“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 conversation that I had with Gautam sir after our last practice session,” Nitish told reporters at the post-day press meet.

“He said that ‘when you have a bouncer, take it on your shoulder. It was like taking a ball for your country’. That just energized me. When he said I felt like I had to take the ball for the country. This is the best thing I have heard from Gautam, sir,” he added.

The 21-year-old revealed he was informed of his impending debut a day before the first Test, but it came together with a leisurely dinner and a game of evening cycling. “We found out about (him and pacer Harshit Rana) our debut just a day ago, and we were excited. We were having dinner and keeping calm like last week.

“We didn’t want to take too much pressure. We also did a bike ride last night, so that was good.” he said.

Nitish was delightfully surprised when star batter and his idol Virat Kohli presented him with the Test cap in the morning.

“It was a great feeling (receiving a cap from Kohli). I always dreamed of playing for India and it was a fantastic moment. Virat bhai is my idol when I started playing cricket. So receiving a cap from him was a happy moment for me,” he exclaimed.

Nitish was realistic about his debut in Test cricket and admitted that playing for India A in Melbourne had recently helped him understand Australian conditions.

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

“Playing on this wicket compared to India, there are a lot of differences, the bounce etc. I felt there was more (help) from the wicket here (than at the MCG), but other than that, the bounce and everything was the same as Melbourne,” he detailed.

Perhaps that experience was reflected in his assault on Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon, whom he carried for a few boundaries, including a reverse sweep. “I thought the wicket was good for fast bowlers and I had to take runs. When Nathan Lyon was bowling, I saw two or three balls without any drift. So, I thought of facing Lyon so that we can do quick shopping,” he says.

Nitish and Rishabh Pant added 48 runs for the seventh wicket to take India from 73 for six to 121 before the latter got out for 37. The Andhra cricketer said it was a good experience to play with Pant.

“It was good, you know, Rishabh is an aggressive batsman. He knows his game well and he was also guiding me at that time. So, it was good to play with Rishabh,” he added.

Indian bowling unit under Jasprit Bumrah counter punch to reduce the Australians to 67 for seven at the close, and Nitish said discipline was the name of the game for the visiting bowlers. “We were trying to hit the right areas. We were talking about disciplined bowling, so that’s what I think Bumrah, Siraj and Harshit did.

“Obviously the wicket helps a lot and we don’t need to do much to get the wicket, just bowl in the right areas and let the ball do the rest,” he said . Nitish also praised Bumrah’s captaincy. “He’s very good… things like changing overs and spells were really good,” he said.