India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel has dropped enough hints about the possibility of Nitish Reddy’s Test debut in Perth, even as the South African kept his fingers crossed for Shubman Gill to recover in time for the Border-Gavaskar series opener at the Optus Stadium  starting Friday.

Heaping praise on the 21-year-old seam-bowling all-rounder, the former Protea quickly felt that Reddy can ‘hold one end up’ for India during the five Tests in Australia. Reddy made rapid strides in 2024 with a brilliant IPL season and was rewarded a place in India’s T20I side thereafter.

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In red-ball cricket, the Hyderabadi has featured in just 23 First-Class matches, but Morkel feels that the youngster can be the seam-bowling all-rounder that the team has been hunting for overseas tours, and hinted at his inclusion by inviting that he’s the “one player you can keep your eye on in this series.”

Most recently, Nitish featured in both the A games in Mackay and Melbourne, forging two solid partnerships with Dhruv Jurel in the second fixtures. With the ball, he delivered 31 overs across four innings, conceding runs at under three-an-over in three of them.

“(Nitish Reddy) is one of the young guys that we’ve mentioned. He’s got that batting (and) all-round ability. He’ll be a guy that can sort of hold that one end up for us. He hits the bat a little bit harder than you think. So in these sorts of conditions where there might be a little bit of seam movement up front, especially the first couple of days, he’ll be a handy bowler. He’s very accurate, a wicket-to-wicket style of bowler. It’s a lovely opportunity for him to fill that allrounder spot,” said Morkel.

“Any team in the world always wanted the allrounder to take that load off your fast bowlers, just to give them an extra bit of breathing time. So how we use him, how Jasprit (Bumrah) is going to use him, with maybe the spinner, to give himself, whoever’s going to be the other quicks, time to catch their breath a little bit is going to be important. He’s definitely a guy that is a player you can keep your eye on in this series,” he stressed.

Fingers crossed for Shubman Gill

A week before the series opener, Shubman Gill’s hairline fracture on his left thumb during India’s match simulation at the WACA in Perth, forced the Indian team management to opt for Plan B, but Morkel remained hopeful about the stylish right-hander recovering in time for the first Test.

The injury was anticipated to rule him out of the first Test but Morkel said Gill is being tracked on a day-to-day basis, and the team management will take a call only on Friday morning. India have also got Devdutt Padikkal to stay back after featuring for India A, as a top-order back-up.

“Shubman is improving every day, obviously picking up a nasty blow in the mock game, in the squad game. I think with him it’s going to be a day-to-day sort of process, fingers crossed for that improvement, but I think they’ll wait, (and not) make a call with him up until the morning of the (match),” Morkel said.

While Gill was spotted during the team’s training session at the Optus Stadium on Wednesday, he did not take part in the drill, and left after hanging around with Rishabh Pant for a while.

Keeping a close eye on Shami

Impressed by Mohammed Shami’s match-winning performance for Bengal in their Ranji Trophy win against Madhya Pradesh, on his return to competitive cricket after nearly a year, Morkel said the team management have also got their eyes on the seasoned pacer. Shami picked seven wickets across two innings in the Ranji game.

The 34-year-old has been picked in Bengal’s squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, which will take place from November 23 to December 15. In all likelihood, the right-arm seamer could feature in the later part of the Australia series, if he manages to keep himself fit.

“We are keeping a close eye on Shami. He has been out for a year. For us, it is a massive win that he is back playing. How can we give him the best support to find his feet again? [We’re] working closely with the people back home. He is a world-class bowler,” Morkel said.