Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra heaped praise on Nitish Kumar Reddy after the opening day against England at Lord’s. Reddy returned with figures of 2-46 in the 14 overs he bowled against the home team and he was the pick of the Indian bowlers.
The medium pacer was introduced in the 14th over of the innings by Indian captain Shubman Gill and he was able to strike twice in his first over. Reddy strangled Ben Duckett down the leg-side and then got rid of Zak Crawley with a peach of a delivery.
The SRH all-rounder could have dismissed Ollie Pope for a golden duck but Gill failed to hang on to a tough chance at gully.
“Nitish Kumar Reddy came and picked up two wickets in one over with the new ball. Luck favored him in one where Ben Duckett got out down the leg side, but the Zak Crawley ball was incredible. It pitched, went out, and flew,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“Nitish is a very good player. If he adds a little accuracy to his bowling, I think he brings another dimension into the side. He bats very well, but he is a work in progress in bowling. He needs to work hard on that. His basics are good, and if he keeps working hard, he will just keep getting better, and I expect the accuracy to get slightly better,” he added.
Meanwhile, the renowned commentator reckons Indian bowlers didn’t have the rub of the green on their side, and they could have taken seven wickets.
“The Indian bowling needs to be praised, the way they were bowling, whether it was Akash Deep, who looked slightly wayward at the start, but (Jasprit) Bumrah. On any other day, you might have taken seven wickets by the end of the day. Those many wickets haven’t fallen here. It happens at times,” he said.
After the lunch break, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah bowled tight spells but Joe Root kept himself at the non-striker’s end when the latter was bowling.
“One more thing stood out. Root’s number is in Bumrah’s pocket. He bowled 30 balls in his first spell (after Lunch), 28 balls were played by his (Root’s) partner, and Root was standing at the non-striker’s end. The best place to be when the ball is moving and it’s going to be difficult is to stand at the non-striker’s end. He is on 99 at the moment, and it seems like he will score a hundred,” Chopra elaborated.
England ended the opening day at 251-4.
