Nitish Reddy ended up in India playing XI for the Perth Test against Australia

Indian National Cricket Team’s 21-year-old fast bowling all-rounder Nitish Reddy is all set to make his Test debut in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.

According to the latest report in the Indian Express, the Indian team management has taken the decision to hand over the Test title to Nitish Reddy for the first match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth.

Also Read: Jasprit Bumrah named captain as Rohit Sharma destroys BCCI hopes, skips Perth Test

Nitish Reddy will be India’s fourth seamer

The Indian team management considers the 21-year-old all-rounder as the fourth seamer, with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and one of Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana being the top three.

The surface at Perth’s Optus Stadium will have plenty of bounce and carry, and will be the perfect time to unleash Reddy, who will be able to make the most of the conditions on offer.

Nitish Reddy was chosen instead of Shardul Thakur despite the latter’s past heroics. The youngster received head coach Gautam Gambhir’s vote and got the nod for the all-important Test series.

So far, Reddy has played 3 T20Is for the Indian national cricket team and has made a huge impact. Talking about his first class record, he has played 23 matches and scored 779 runs at an average of 21.05. With the ball, he has taken 56 first-time wickets.

Rohit Sharma ruled out of Perth Test

As Nitish Reddy appears in his first Test match, he will not play with Rohit Sharma as the Indian captain took the decision to skip the Perth Test.

Rohit Sharma had not traveled with the Indian team to Australia and stayed in Mumbai to be with his wife for the birth of their second child. They welcomed the baby on November 15 and Rohit made the decision to stay with his family for a longer time.

The Indian captain has officially communicated his decision to skip the match to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and vice-captain-designate Jasprit Bumrah will take over the leadership duties.

KL Rahul recovered from injury and likely to play first Test against Australia

Apart from Rohit Sharma, India will be without the services of Shubman Gill, who is out with a broken thumb. He injured his thumb on the second day of match simulation while playing in the stands.

Scans revealed a fracture and Gill was declared unavailable for the Perth test. It will take about 14 days to recover and he could play the second game.

Meanwhile, stand-in opener KL Rahul also suffered an injury during the intrasquad match when he suffered a knock on his elbow while facing Prasidh Krishna.

However, he returned to the networks on Sunday, November 17 and in a video shared by BCCI confirmed that he is completely fine.

KL Rahul is reportedly all set to arrive in India playing XI in Perth, and wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel will also feature as a specialist batsman.