Team India is likely to have a debutant in the opening test against in the form of Nitish Kumar Reddy. According to an Indian Express report, With just a couple of days left before the opening match of the (BGT) at Perth Stadium (Nov 22) head coach Gautam Gambhir is likely to draft the youngster in the playing XI.

The cricketer himself dropped the hint of playing the opening test for India through pictures on his official Instagram handle. The cricketer can be seen posing in white jersey and captioned the image, "Repping the whites. Playing for that crest. Nothing gets bigger than this."

With Perth’s Optus Stadium expected to have bounce and carry, Reddy is being looked at as the fourth seamer option in the fast bowling department. The report further states that Jasprit Bumrah will lead Team India in the opening test in the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma.

Nitish Kumar Reddy, had a breakout IPL 2024 campaign and managed to impress in the limited opportunities presented in the India jersery in white-ball cricket. The 21-year-old will now look to make his impact in the longest format of the game, if handed over his maiden Test cap.

Before heading got Perth, Nitish played in the two unofficial Tests for India A against Australia A earlier this month and registered scores of 0, 17, 16, and 38 runs. He bowled in all four innings but was only able to take one wicket. Indian team management and fans will expect him to deliver with both bat and ball

Devdutt to stay back in Australia

The Indian team management has decided to keep top-order batter Devdutt Padikkal in Australian as a batting back-up. Devdutt was part of the India A squad that played two four-day matches against their Australia counterparts recently.

The left-hander, who was recently named in Karnataka’s squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, had lukewarm outings during the ‘A’ tour, making 36, 88, 26, 1. Devdutt had made his Test debut against England earlier this year at Dharamsala and made a 65 while batting at No 4.