Not Jasprit Bumrah or Akash Deep, Anil Kumble backs THIS bowler to stop England from posting mountain-like total

Indian legend Anil Kumble has lauded all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy as a promising option for Team India in dismissing England batters quickly. He said that Reddy is a young, capable batter with a century under his belt and a sharp fielder. On the first day of the Lord's Test, England batters dominated over Indian bowlers and posted 251 runs on board with a loss of just 4 wickets. Despite England managing to dominate most sessions on Day 1, India resorted to a traditional and slower scoring method.

Anil Kumble praises Nitish Kumar Reddy

On a cricket show on JioHotstar, Anil Kumble said, ''I thought he did quite well in Australia, got a hundred with the bat and bowled decently, even if he didn't take many wickets. What you need from someone like him is to break partnerships and give the fast bowlers a breather while still maintaining control. He bowled nearly 14 overs in a spell -- that shows fitness and control. He's young, he's a capable batter with a century under his belt, and he's a sharp fielder. India should persist with him and avoid the temptation to chop and change.''

 

 

 

 

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He also praised Indian bowlers and said they bowled really good areas consistently, that's one of the reasons the Men in Blue managed to restrict England to 251. ''It was evident right from the start that it was going to be a grind for the batters. The openers struggled to score off the new ball, and this was the kind of pitch where you had to work hard for your runs. I thought the Indian bowlers bowled really good areas consistently -- that's one of the reasons India managed to restrict England to 251. England will be fairly satisfied with just four wickets down. I do think India missed a trick after Jadeja got that breakthrough -- I was surprised he didn't continue bowling to Ben Stokes and changed ends instead. India will probably reflect tonight and feel that one or two more wickets could have put the match firmly in their favour. As it stands, it's évenly poised,'' he added.

Apart from Nitish Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja took one wicket each on Day 1 of the Lord's Test, restricting England to just 251 runs despite their popular 'Bazball' approach in batting.

(with ANI inputs)