Murli Vijay Admires ‘Cool And Composed’ Nitish Kumar Reddy For Impressive Test Debut In BGT 2024-25
by SW Cricket · SportzwikiThe former opening batter of the Indian side, Murli Vijay, has hailed the impressive debut of the Andhra Pradesh all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy at the Optus Stadium in Perth of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. On an opening day where 17 wickets fell, and so many quality batters took center stage, it was he who ended up as the leading run-getter individually.
Nitish came out in the middle when the Indian side was struggling at 73/6 before putting up a commendable partnership with Rishabh Pant, as both of them started to display their aggressive version of their batting. The former took the attack on the off-spinner Nathan Lyon and reverse-swept him for a couple of boundaries.
Murli Vijay felt that the youngster showed incredible character of calm and composure in that tough position in the batting order. Reddy smashed 41 runs in 59 balls with the help of six boundaries and an over boundary to carry them over the 100-run mark as they were bundled out for 150 in less than 50 overs.
The former opening batter for Tamil Nadu has given credit for his fantastic footwork, besides maintaining a good and calm character inside the crease.
“You can see he showed a lot of calmness for the first match in his life playing for playing for the country, no nerves at all. I couldn’t see anything. He was spot on, his footwork was fantastic to watch, and he maintained good, calmness inside the crease. That’s what it is all about, playing at the highest level.” Murli Vijay expressed on Star Sports at the end of the day’s play.
Murli Vijay analyzes the mindset of Nitish Kumar Reddy on debut in Perth Test
The platform was huge for the youngster, as he relaxed his nerves and benefitted with the open mindset to score runs against the quality pacers, consisting of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood.
“You got to maintain your cool and maintain your relaxed mindset to perform at that level. If you get tightened up, the body won’t allow you to play the shots what you’re thinking about, what Matthew Hayden was talking about, playing the attacking cricket.” Murli Vijay highlighted.
The right-handed batter has shed light on how things can easily fall into one’s favor if one starts to approach with an open mindset during the encounters or in the future.
When you play attacking cricket, you tend to get into the right positions all the time, and unsurprising. The bowlers miss out on their lengths. So a lot of things happen when you have a strong mindset.” Murli Vijay added.
The all-rounder wasn’t in a great touch coming into the opening Test having managed just 71 runs across four innings with one duck already on his name. The Visakhapatnam-born didn’t have a great experience either in the first-class format, with 708 runs in 35 innings at an average of around 20 with the help of two half-centuries and the best score of 159.
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“But when you don’t have that, you’ve got to back your back, your defense a lot. When you have a good defensive approach, you can have that defensive approach and still score runs by playing cricketing shots. So, it’s all in the mindset and how people approach the next innings.” Murli Vijay concluded.
The 21-year-old didn’t have a huge job to do in the first innings of their bowling, but he might become a huge prospect with the bat in the second innings and the rest of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.