'Virat bhai is my idol, it was great getting cap from him': Nitish Reddy after impressive debut in Perth Test

Nitish Reddy scored 41 in the first innings of the first Border-Gavaskar trophy Test in Perth. He was the highest run-scorer for India in the innings, having played a crucial role in taking India to 150 in the Perth Test.

Nitish Kumar Reddy had a dream ticked off when he made his Test debut for India in the Border-Gavaskar trophy Down Under. The Andhra Pradesh all-rounder was one of two debutants India fielded in the opening Test of the series in Perth alongside Harshit Rana. Reddy had an impressive start to his Test debut after scoring 41 in India's innings and outscoring all the other Indian batters.

Reddy received his Test cap from the man whom he idolizes - Virat Kohli. After the end of the first day of the first Test, Reddy spoke to the media about his valiant innings and how special it was to get his debut cap from the batting maestro. 

"It was a great feeling (getting a cap from Kohli). I have always dreamed about playing for India and it was a fantastic moment. Virat bhai is my idol when I started playing cricket. So getting a cap from him was a happy moment for me," Reddy told the media after the end of the opening day. 

He had came to Australia after making his debut in T20Is and played for India A in the shadow tour ahead of the five-match series. Reddy credits the game time as crucial for him. "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 to Australia.

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

He took on the great Aussie spinner Nathan Lyon for a few boundaries and opened up on his strategy. "I thought the wicket was good for the fast bowlers and I had to make runs. When Nathan Lyon was bowling I saw two or three balls without any drift. So, I thought of taking on Lyon so that we get some quick runs," he said.

After the fall of India's sixth wicket on 73, the visitors were in choppy waters and in danger of getting bowled out for something between 100-120. But Reddy and Rishabh Pant notched a stand of 48 for the seventh wicket. The all-rounder opened up on his experience of batting with the wicketkeeper batter. 

"It was good, you know, Rishabh is an aggressive batsman. He knows his game well and he was guiding me at that time as well. So, it was good playing with Rishabh," he added.