After India had dropped to 191/6, Nitish Kumar Reddy came out to bat. Rishabh Pant was dismissed for a careless shot, which further strained the young player. Australia had also scored an incredible 474 runs in the first innings. With the visitors down seven runs for 221 runs in the first innings of the Boxing Day Test, Reddy lost his partner, Ravindra Jadeja, shortly into his innings.
Nitish Kumar Reddy grabbed command of the situation and put on some outstanding cricket to save India.
By taking advantage of the favourable conditions, he reached his century in 170 balls. The 21-year-old had a really astute strategy; he dared to avoid falling for outside off-stump deliveries and ducked most of the short balls. Additionally, he did a good job of rotating in the middle, which put Australia behind.
Due to his incredibly disciplined style, the batsman from Visakhapatnam achieved his first Test century at the storied Melbourne Cricket Ground. Reddy has been among India’s top hitters in the current Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but he has hardly received any assistance from the opposition. He received crucial assistance from Washington Sundar in the ongoing game, which enabled him to reach the three-figure milestone.
After exhausting the bowlers with his regressive batting, the spin-bowling all-rounder reached his half-century. To save India from difficulty, they stitched one of 127 runs, as they desperately needed a partnership. At one point, the follow-on appeared challenging, but it also helped the visitors escape it.
With a boundary from the long-on area, Nitish Reddy finished his century in the meantime. Mohammed Siraj was put to the test for three balls with India down by nine wickets, but the bowler survived, and Reddy completed the task in the next over. As his father in the stands sobbed, the all-rounder celebrated by putting his helmet on top of the bat and pointing his other hand up to the heavens.
Here’s how X reacted:
Well deserved Century for Nitish Kumar Reddy 🔥
This proves that, now we have to move from Non Performing seniors & Bring young talent into the Team 🙌#INDvsAUS pic.twitter.com/3mnOsFSxbc
— अजय शर्मा 🇮🇳 (@AjayShaRss) December 28, 2024
21 year old Nitish Kumar reddy buried Aussies arrogant top bowling in their own backyard in their home conditions.. #INDvsAUS #AUSvsIND#TeamIndia
— Chandu (@IamChanduSS) December 28, 2024
– Sacrificed his job.
– Retired 25 years early.
– Gave his full attention to Nitish Kumar Reddy.
– Took him to training and gave all the facilities he could despite financial conditions.THIS IS HOW A PROUD FATHER LOOKS LIKE WHEN HIS DREAMS TURNS INTO A REALITY…!!! 🙇♂️🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/uc5hnjAtC3
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) December 28, 2024
Visuals from MCG are over whelming..
What a serious knock by Nitish Kumar Reddy.. a magnificent 100#AUSvINDIA #ToughestRivalry #BGT2025— Vikash (@whokobi) December 28, 2024
Nitish Kumar Reddy, a new king has arrived to rule👑
— Sudipto Banik (@IamBanikSudipta) December 28, 2024
What a player Nitish Kumar Reddy is! 👏
He will make many guys insecure. I hope he is not repeatedly sidelined like Axar Patel.— Siddharth’s Echelon (@SiddharthKG7) December 28, 2024
Nitish Kumar Reddy 🫡🫡🫡🇮🇳🇮🇳
You deserve it❤️🫡#INDvsAUS— Reshu😊 (@smileskares) December 28, 2024
Nitish Kumar Reddy, you are a SUPER SUPER SUPER STAR ⭐️. A start of what is going to be a VERY VERY SUCCESSFUL CAREER.🧿⭐️
— Areyyyyy Yaarrrrrr (@A_niche11) December 28, 2024
Nitish Kumar Reddy
Great character and determination 👏👏 magnificent inning
Take a bow #INDvsAUS— Arunabh (@arunabh_28) December 28, 2024
Nitish Kumar Reddy you are a GEM.#AUSvINDIA #INDvsAUS
— Bruce Patel (@BruceWayne_42) December 28, 2024
MAIDEN TEST CENTURY BY NKR. 🇮🇳
– Nitish Kumar Reddy, the future superstar has announced his arrival in Melbourne. A hundred of the highest order, take a bow Nitish! 🙇♂️ pic.twitter.com/YGxfi9ihbO
— Gautam Rajpurohit07 (@gauti_raj07) December 28, 2024
India
