Captain hails Harshit Rana and Nitish Reddy for fearless attitude

Perth: Skipper Jasprit Bumrah was highly impressed by the fearless attitude and maturity of Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy, saying he never got the feeling that the two youngsters were playing in Australia for the first time.

Their selection was viewed with raised eyebrows in the run-up to the first Test in Perth, but they silenced the doubters, chipping

in their own way in India’s massive 295-run win over the Aussies.

“When they made their debut, the biggest positive sign was that they were not nervous at all.

It didn’t feel like they were playing for the first time in Australia or it was their first match,” Bumrah said in the post-match press conference here on Monday.

Rana took the prized wicket of Travis Head in the first innings with a gem of a delivery and was

even not hesitant to exchange a few words with veteran Mitchell Starc, despite them being team-mates at the Kolkata Knight Riders during the IPL 2024.

Nitish made nerveless 41 and 38 across two innings here, knocks that belied his lack of sufficient exposure in First-Class cricket.