Nitish Kumar Reddy to oust Hardik Pandya from Indian team completely? Legend drops 'definitely better' verdict

Hardik Pandya and Nitish Kumar Reddy are probably the two top fast bowling allrounders in Indian cricket at the moment. While Hardik is an experienced player now, Reddy is still finding his feet in international cricket.

Recently, Reddy has been playing in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia where he is among the best players for India. This has given birth to a debate about the better allrounder between Hardik Pandya and Nitish Kumar Reddy.

Legendary India opener Sunil Gavaskar has opened up and shared his thoughts on this topic. Gavaskar made a bold claim and called Reddy the better allrounder than Pandya at this stage of his career.

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Nitish Kumar Reddy better than Hardik Pandya - Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar shared his thoughts on Nitish Kumar Reddy's performance in the Melbourne Test through his column for Sportstar. He hailed the youngster for his outstanding century at the MCG when the team was under immense pressure.

"When India were looking down the barrel, he (Nitish Kumar Reddy) came through the fire with an outstanding century that has cemented his place in the team for a long time to come," Gavaskar wrote in his column.

Gavaskar further mentioned that India has been looking for a fast bowling allrounder since Hardik Pandya's inability to play Tests and Reddy has given the team lots of confidence. He further claimed Nitish to be better than Hardik at the same stage.

“Ever since the unavailability of Hardik Pandya for Test cricket, India has been looking for an all-rounder who can bowl medium pace and bat as well. Reddy’s bowling is still a work in progress, but as a batter, he is definitely better than Pandya was around the same time," the former India batter added.

Sunil Gavaskar lauds Ajit Agarkar and selectors for Nitish Kumar Reddy's selection

Further speaking on Nitish Kumar Reddy, Sunil Gavaskar hailed Ajit Agarkar and the selection panel for picking up the youngster for this series despite his limited experience at the first-class level.

“The Melbourne Test brought to the fore one of the brightest young stars in Indian cricket, Nitish Kumar Reddy," Gavaskar wrote.

"He came to the attention of Indian cricket fans with his performances for the Hyderabad franchise in the IPL, and while he had not done much at the first-class level, it’s a credit to Ajit Agarkar and his fellow selectors to have seen enough to pitchfork him into the Test arena," the column added.

Nitish Kumar Reddy scores a memorable ton

Nitish Kumar Reddy scored a fine 114 off 189 balls in India's first innings and almost single-handedly took India closer to Australia's mammoth first innings total. Reddy struck 11 fours and 1 six during his maiden international hundred.

He played the situation perfectly by mixing caution with aggression. He didn't go into the shell and kept playing positive cricket. His partnership of 127 runs with Washington Sundar down the order helped India avoid the follow-on and score 369 in the first innings.