Former India player Sanjay Manjrekar lauded Nitish Kumar Reddy for his batting display in the first two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, calling him an exceptional talent. However, he opined that the visiting team might be forced to leave him out for the third Test in Brisbane in order to strengthen the bowling.

Reddy made his debut in the series opener at the Optus Stadium and scored 41 runs as India were bowled out for 150. The right-handed batter then amassed an unbeaten 38 in the second essay. In the next game at the Adelaide Oval, he accumulated 42 each across both innings, respectively.

“He has been magnificent with the bat and his batting even gets batter against a quality opposition. He hasn’t got many runs in first-class cricket, but you can see a rare batting talent there,” he said.

The 59-year-old added that the Rohit Sharma-led team might be forced to leave him out since he hasn’t been impressive with the ball as yet.

“India will have to think about the balance of the team and also take a call on the bowling unit. Nitish is good with the bat but you can’t risk of playing him as a pure batter,” he added.

Nitish has scored 163 runs in four innings at an average of 54.33 and is the team’s second-leading run-scorer after Yashasvi Jaiswal (185). The batting all-rounder has only picked up two wickets.