Not No. 8, Ravi Shastri Suggests New Batting Position For Centurion Nitish Reddy After Melbourne Heroics
Photo : AP
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has said that the way Nitish Kumar Reddy batted in India's first innings in the Brisbane Test would be the last time that he bats so much down the order. He added that a promotion for the youngster in the batting order would be necessary and making him bat within the top six would provide India a better balance.
Reddy showed tremendous grit, scoring a dogged 105 not out at number 8 to bail India out on the third day of the Boxing Day Test.
With the flat Melbourne Cricket Ground pitch not offering much to the bowlers, saving the Test shouldn't be a big deal for India. Reddy, India's 'find of the series', played a crucial role in the visitors' fightback.
"I feel that the way he's batted, this is the last time he will bat at 7. To get the balance of the side, you need him to go higher up the order, either 5 or 6 and then you have the opportunity of playing 5 bowlers to take the 20 wickets. He's given that kind of confidence to the selectors and the team management and the captain," Shastri said while speaking on Star Sports.
India's batting has looked fragile, with captain Rohit Sharma, ace batter Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant not able to score runs in the five-Test series till now.
"Reddy is fully capable of batting in the top 6. Then it changes the whole balance of the game. You go to Sydney with him batting in the top 6 and you're playing five bowlers," Shastri said.
Meanwhile, ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah bowled a perfect nip-backer to remove Sam Konstas before the much-maligned Mohammed Siraj jettisoned Usman Khawaja with a peach as Australia crawled to 53/2 at lunch on the fourth day of the fourth Test in Melbourne.
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