London, July 11 (IANS) India allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who was the most impressive bowler against England on the first day of the Lord’s Test on Thursday, gave credit to bowling coach Morne Morkel and Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins for his development with the ball.

Reddy revealed that he had asked Cummins for advice ahead of the England tour, and the Aussie skipper explained to him how weather plays a big role in England. He said that bowling with consistency has been a key focus for him since the beginning of the tour, which started with an India A match and an intra-squad game.

The 22-year-old produced the breakthroughs for India in the first session when he came in to bowl in the 14th over and dismissed openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley in his first over.

“After the Australia tour I felt like I have to improve my bowling and my consistency. That’s what I looked about. And yeah, Pat is my captain, and he’s been brilliant in Australia and I have asked him for some tips and he has been telling me how things would’ve been done in Australia, how can I go through in Australia. And that’s a great experience for me, sharing with Pat Cummins,” Reddy told reporters.

“I just asked Pat Cummins about the difference in bowling in Australia and England. This is my first tour. He said, ‘It’s not going to be a different change. You just watch the weather conditions and just play your game. Just try to learn as much as you can’,” he revealed.

Reddy further said that working with bowling coach Morkel has been immensely beneficial for his development and he enjoys learning from him. “Coming to this tour also, working with Morne Morkel has been great for me. He’s working with me for couple of weeks and, we are seeing good progress in my bowling, and I’m really enjoying working with him.”

“We have been working on my consistency a lot, since I got some bit of swing both ways and I just want to be consistent over all areas. So, we are working on that, and I have been working hard on my bowling since one or two years now,” he added.

–IANS

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