The injury to Nitish Kumar Reddy’s left knee came at a time just when he was trying to get into his groove. But the youngster’s fight to be fit and return quickly to action seems to be keeping him in good stead.
In both innings of the third Test at Lord’s, the seamer all-rounder took wickets in crucial phases, taking a match haul of three scalps. He also fought hard with the bat, scoring 30 and 13, stitching gritty partnerships of 72 and 30 with Ravindra Jadeja.
These performances came after his indifferent outing at Edgbaston. Unfortunately, the knee injury denied Nitish the scope to build on his performance at Lord’s, sidelining him from the last two Tests.
However, it has been learnt that the 22-year-old’s injury is not as serious as it was perceived to be when he was ruled out of the fourth and final games of the recent England series. A week has passed since Nitish began his recovery and rehabilitation process at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, and he still hasn’t given up hope of being 100 per cent fit for the Asia Cup.
The Asia Cup begins on September 9.
“Nitish began his rehab at home first after returning from England. He then headed to the Centre of Excellence last week and is stationed there for a full-fledged recovery process,” a BCCI official said on Monday.
“So far, his rehab has gone well. Things will be clearer by next week. But yes, he’s certainly striving to make the Asia Cup squad and hasn’t given up hope at all. One big advantage of Nitish is that he’s only 22, which should help in recovering faster.”
Knee injuries do take at least three to four weeks to heal completely. In Nitish’s case, though, it appears he has sustained a Grade I injury, which means a little bit of damage to the ligament, not a massive tear, which usually turns out to be the case if the injury is Grade II or III.
Close to a month still remains before India begin their Asia Cup campaign on September 10 against UAE in Dubai, before the clash against Pakistan on September 14. That way, Nitish does have some time at his disposal to regain fitness and be a part of India’s battle for continental supremacy.
According to former Andhra coach Charles David Thomson, adaptability and work ethics are among the youngster’s strong points. “This injury that happened to him before the Manchester Test was quite unfortunate, but Nitish is a guy who’s determined to return stronger after a setback.
“He’s a guy who doesn’t take a failure or setback to heart,” Thomson emphasised.
“A few years back, when I was the Andhra coach, he wasn’t as strong as he is now. But then, he started training in beast mode, which eventually lifted his standards. We brought him up the order in the Andhra team, while his speed also went up to 130kmph from the 120s.
“And after his inclusion in the Sunrisers Hyderabad team, we saw what he’s capable of. So, knowing Nitish, his nature and his ability to adapt, I’m confident he’ll return to action sooner than expected,” Thomson, coach of the Andhra team during the 2022-23 season, added.
Even if he’s unable to regain fitness by the time the Asia Cup begins, he should be be available for selection for the two-Test series at home against the West Indies, beginning on October 2.