Nitish Reddy and his father.
Nitish Reddy and his father. Image Credit: X

The fourth Boxing Day Test of the ongoing five-match series in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) will be memorable for the new young all-rounder of India, Nitish Reddy, who has shouldered his side to a safe place, having notched up his maiden century in the game.

When Nitish Reddy walked into the middle, the Indian team was struggling at a risky position of 221 runs, having lost seven wickets, with the last one being their premier spinner, Ravindra Jadeja. That was the last recognized batting pair for them, and the Andhra-born put up a stand of 127 runs for the eighth wicket with Washington Sundar.

Coming into the encounter, Reddy had already enjoyed his time in the BGT with 179 runs in five innings at an average of 44/75 and a strike rate of around 72 with the best score of 72. His aggressive batting was already displayed multiple times, but he wasn’t getting the right platform and time to settle for a big score.

Also Read: ‘Calm Down’- Ravi Shastri Defends Rishabh Pant For His Poor Shot Selection And Dismissal In MCG Test

That led to some of the former players demanding to see the drop of Nitish Reddy as they felt that the Blue Brigade could think of going with an extra pacer in the side. But the 21-year-old proved the world wrong.

Watch: Nitish Reddy shares emotional moment with his father and sister

The 127-run partnership progressed India to a different position in that situation. Sundar contributed immensely in that stand, having collected 50 runs in 162 deliveries with the help of one boundary at a strike rate of 30. After his dismissal, Reddy was trying to get as many scores as possible for the side.

But Jasprit Bumrah walked into the middle as he could not keep himself saved from Pat Cummins, having given his catch into the hands of the slip fielder. Mohammad Siraj was the last hope in the middle for NKR, as the latter’s father in the stand was praying hard when his son was in the 90s.

Nitish Reddy made his progress to an unbeaten score of 99. Siraj defended the first ball, left the second one in the form of a bouncer, and the third one in the form of a solid defensive shot, which led to a loud cheer in the middle.

The 21-year-old, having defended the first ball of the new over from Scot Boland, drilled the second ball over the bowler’s head for a boundary to celebrate his maiden century in international cricket, his second in the first-class format. His knock of 114 runs with the help of 11 boundaries and one six at a strike rate of 60 helped the Indian side to reach 369 in their first innings, which at one stage looked impossible.

At the end of the day’s play, he met his father and sister in the hotel, and tears rolled out all of their eyes as they shared a very emotional moment.

Also Read: Nitish Kumar Reddy Becomes First Indian To Achieve This Feat With His MCG Ton Against Australia

“Nitish played well, and I am very proud. We have struggled a lot and are thankful now to the Indian team.” Mutyalu Reddy, the father of Nitish Reddy, expressed in a video to the BCCI TV.

His sister, Tejaswi, revealed that the all-rounder had promised to do well in the series with the bat.

“It’s not an easy journey for him. All I could say is that we all are very happy and proud of him. He said it, and he did it.”  Tejaswi Reddy informed.

Nitish Reddy is now the second leading run-getter of the BGT 2024-25 with the help of 293 runs in six innings at an average of 58.60a and will aim to extend the same form in the fifth Sydney Test.