“I heard a lot about the Perth wicket. There was a bit of nervousness. It was in the back of my mind that everyone was talking about the bounce on Perth wicket. But then I remembered the chat I had with Gautam sir after our last practice session,” Nitish told reporters during the post-day press meet.
“Like taking a bullet for your country”
????️ Nitish Kumar Reddy reveals coach Gambhir’s words that helped him face the fire in Perth #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/THwnG9a91C
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 22, 2024
“He was mentioning that ‘when you get a bouncer, take it on your shoulder. It was like taking a bullet for your country’. That just boosted me. When he said that I felt that I needed to take the bullet for the country. That’s the best thing I have heard from Gautam sir,” he added.
Nitish disclosed that he was revealed about the fact that he will be debuting a day before the match commenced. However, he kept calm, had a quiet dinner and cycled in the evening in the lead-up to the clash.
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“We got to know (him and pacer Harshit Rana) about our debut just one day ago, and we were excited. We were having dinner and we were keeping calm as last week.
“We did not want to take too much pressure. We had a cycle ride as well last evening, so that was good.” he said.
India reduced Australia to 67/7 at stumps on the opening day of the match after getting bowled out for 150. Bumrah opted to bat first upon winning the toss, and took four wickets to dismantle the Baggy Greens.
