World Cup-winning captain orders Gautam Gambhir to promote Nitish Kumar Reddy in SCG Test

Australia's World Cup-winning captain Michael Clarke wants the young India allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy to move up in the batting line-up for the fifth Test in Sydney. Clarke is highly impressed with Reddy's performance and feels that he is good to bat at No. 6.

Reddy has been the find for India in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. While a lot was expected from the senior players, Reddy has emerged as a huge positive for India, especially given his all-round skills.

The allrounder has shown maturity and temperament and is also among the highest run-scorers of this series. His inclusion was criticized earlier by some of the former cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar for his limited first-class experience but the youngster has proved everyone wrong.

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Michael Clarke calls for Nitish Kumar Reddy's promotion

While speaking on Beyond 23 Cricket Podcast, Michael Clarke praised Nitish Kumar Reddy for his batting performances and called for his promotion in the batting order. Clarke was impressed with the way Reddy has faced the world-class Australian bowlers and the way he has batted lower down the order with tailenders.

"(Nitish Kumar) Reddy, this young kid batting at number eight, is a genius. I think he has definitely got to bat seven if not six. He has been India's leading run-scorer, 21 years of age, unbelievable. He has been underrated in the entire series," Clarke observed.

"Reddy, this young kid batting at number eight, is a genius. I think he has definitely got to bat seven if not six. He has been India's leading run-scorer, 21 years of age, unbelievable. He has been underrated in the entire series," he added.

Nitish Kumar Reddy batted at No. 8 in Melbourne. He was slated to bat at No. 7 but the promotion of Akash Deep as a night-watchman led to him coming down the order. However, that didn't deter him from playing the best innings of his life.

Fantastic series for Nitish Kumar Reddy

Reddy is having a fantastic series with the bat. The 21-year-old allrounder from Andhra Pradesh has scored 294 runs in four Tests so far at an average of 66.51. He has a few forties to his name but finally crossed the fifty-run mark in MCG.

Not only did he pass fifty, he went on to slam a maiden Test hundred. It was also the first international century of his career. This knock was full of maturity and temperament from the 21-year-old youngster.

Reddy looked positive from the outset and put the bowlers under pressure right away. However, he was solid when the Australian bowlers were bowling well and ensured not to throw his wicket away.

Nitish Kumar Reddy helped India reach close to Australia's total

Nitish Kumar Reddy scored 114 off 189 balls with 11 fours and 1 six. His knock helped India avoid the follow-on and reach closer to Australia's first innings total. He also stitched a crucial partnership of 127 runs with Washington Sundar for the eighth wicket.

With this innings, the expectations will be high from him in the upcoming Test in Sydney. India needs to win the match at any cost to keep their WTC Final qualification hopes alive.