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India captain Rohit Sharma has backed young Nitish Kumar Reddy and feels he has everything in his arsenal to be successful at the biggest stage. He acknowledged the lack of support that A-Lister Jasprit Bumrah has received from the other end.
The Boxing Day Test left India defeated but it also found solace in the performance of its young and experienced stars. Nitish, a 21-year-old all-rounder, exploded at the MCG with a blistering maiden Test ton in the first innings. Rishabh Pant's dismissal had left India tottering at 191/6. Ravindra Jadeja left India on the brink of facing a follow-on. However, Nitish changed the dynamics of the situation, with Washington Sundar providing the ideal support from the other end. He paced his knock according to the demands of the circumstances, added a touch of 'Pushpa' after his fifty and went on to plant his bat to celebrate his maiden Test ton. "When we saw him for the first time, we saw there is a lot of potential, which is why he came here in the first place. And he has come and shown here what he is capable of. (9:57) With the bat, he was brilliant. He understood the situation pretty well. He read the situation pretty well. And he has got solid technique as well and supermind, not to forget," Rohit said in the post-match press conference. "He is a very strong character. He wants to fight it out there. (10:15) Right now, it's very hard to say the growth partly, because it's only been four test matches for him. I hope that he plays for long enough for India in all forms and keeps doing what he does. From here, he is only going to go up because he has got all the tools to be very, very successful at this level," he added. While Nitish shined with his blistering ton, Bumrah had his charm with the ball yet again. In the first innings, when Australia took complete control, he struck thrice in quick succession to pull India back into the mix. Even in the second innings, Bumrah continued to repay the trust entrusted to him by his skipper and India management and ended the match with figures of 9/156. On certain occasions, Bumrah has been left alone in the battle, with the rest of his compatriots failing to support him from the other end. "Absolutely brilliant, we've been watching him for so many years now, coming here and getting the job done. He's not a statistical person, just wants to play for the country and do well for the team, but unfortunately, he's not got a lot of support from the other side," Rohit said in the post-match presentation. After falling to a 184-run defeat, India will now head to Sydney with hopes of levelling the series after falling behind with a 2-1 scoreline. (ANI)
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