Shastri Urges India to Promote Nitish Kumar Reddy After His Impressive Century

India's batting in the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT 2024-25) was poor as they chased a daunting 474 runs. Yashasvi Jaiswal with his 82 was the only notable performer and no other player could score more than 50. But Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar came together and saved India from further trouble in this match.

Nitish and Washington put on 127 runs for the eighth wicket and prevented India from facing a follow-on. Nitish made his maiden Test century while staying not out on 105. Former India cricketer and coach Ravi Shastri said that the batting of Nitish impressed him so much that the youngster, who has mainly batted at number seven or eight, should be moved up the order to enhance the balance of the team.

"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, and he's given that kind of confidence to the selectors and the team management and the captain," Shastri said.

"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 concluded.

Talking about the game, India ended Day 3 with a 358/9 on the scorecard. They are still trailing by 116 runs and a lot will depend on how Nitish Reddy approaches the first session of Day 4. On the other hand, he was well supported by Sundar who scored 50 runs but after his dismissal, it seemed like he needed proper support in the middle.