Rohit Sharma hands India cap to debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy ahead of AUS vs IND 2025 1st ODI [In Pictures] 

Team India all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy received his maiden ODI cap from the legendary batter Rohit Sharma ahead of the series opener against Australia at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Sunday, October 19. The youngster received a call-up to the squad following an injury to Hardik Pandya in the 2025 Asia Cup, and has been drafted into the playing XI straightaway.

Given the importance of a seam-bowling all-rounder in Australian conditions, the majority expected the player to feature in the playing XI. Along expected lines, the youngster was handed his cap before the toss as India named three all-rounders in their combination, with both Axar Patel and Washington Sundar also marking their presence.

Rohit Sharma shared a few words of wisdom during the huddle on the ground, before presenting Nitish Kumar Reddy his ODI cap, officially making him an all-format player. The all-rounder has already represented India in nine Tests and four T20Is, since his debut last year. Have a look at the cap presentation moment right here:

The debutant will be in action as the play goes on after Team India were put into bat first by Australia stand-in captain Mitchell Marsh.

Nitish Kumar Reddy was awarded his Test cap at the same venue in 2024

The young all-rounder coincidentally made his red-ball debut at the Optus Stadium in Perth as well during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar series opener, as regular seam-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur was not named.

On that occasion, Reddy received his Test cap from legendary batter and former skipper, Virat Kohli. He went on to have a memorable debut contest after he top-scored in the first innings, and picked up Mitchell Marsh's wicket in the second innings.

At the time of writing, Team India are placed at 13-0 after three overs, with Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill being tested by the accomplished bowling pair of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood with the new ball.

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Edited by Gokul Nair