Nitish Kumar ReddyIndia’s latest Test centurion earns place in India’s squad cricket The heroes thanked his father for his sacrifice, Mutyala Reddyhe attended by the way Melbourne He was at the cricket ground on Saturday to watch his son make his well-deserved international debut and score a Test hundred.
The climax of Nitish’s century came in the dramatic final stages of the third day of the fourth Test match. Border Gavaskar Trophy. As he hit a straight four off Scott Boland to reach the triple-digit mark, the father raised his arms in the air with tears in his eyes, while those around an emotional Mutiara paid tribute He expressed congratulations.
On the ground, Nitish knelt down on one knee, placed his helmet on the handle of his bat, looked up to the sky and thanked the Almighty. When he returned with a score of 105, the entire Indian team – led by smiling captain Rohit Sharma – lined up at the boundary rope to applaud the 21-year-old all-rounder.
But reaching this stage was not easy, at least not until Nitish realized the significance of the sacrifices his father continued to make while supporting his son’s dream of playing for India.
“To be honest, I wasn’t serious when I was younger,” Nitish said in a video on BCCI.tv. One day I saw him crying because of the financial problems we were facing, and I thought, “This is not something you can do.” Then I got serious. I gave him my first jersey and saw the happiness on his face.
During age-group matches in Andhra Pradesh, the boy from Visakhapatnam caught the attention of former India wicketkeeper and selector MSK Prasad, after which he started training at the Andhra Cricket Academy. He shot to fame with his 441-run knock against Nagaland in the 2016-17 Vijay Merchant Trophy, besides taking 26 wickets in the tournament. Making him a batting all-rounder with huge potential.
Nitish’s first year of district-level cricket was inconsistent and Mutyala was told that his son was not a good enough player and should focus on his academic career.
But instead, Mutyala found ways to help his son improve, training at better-equipped facilities such as the Visakhapatnam Municipal Stadium and Potinnamalayapalam.
Three years after his debut in Andhra Pradesh, Nitish’s all-round skills earned him an Indian Premier League (IPL) contract with Sunrisers Hyderabad, which became his ticket into the Indian team. Bought for a base price of Rs 20 lakh in 2023, Reddy made his mark after getting regular playing time in the 2024 IPL season, hitting crucial innings with the bat for the Sunrisers heading into the season. Contributed in the post-game.
He made his debut in a T20I against Bangladesh in October this year and was later retained by SRH on a contract worth Rs 6 crore.
During this period, he surprised some with his first Test call-up for Australia’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy; but he ended any doubts about his red-ball eligibility with solid performances in four Tests, especially with the bat. Suspect.
Reddy has scored 284 runs in six innings so far at an average of 71.00 and is the current leading run-scorer in BGT in India.
His vindicated maiden Test hundred on Saturday not only confirmed him as the rising star of Indian cricket but also lifted India out of trouble.
But it was not without its ‘tense 90s’ drama, with Nitish losing first Washington Sundar and then Jasprit Bumrah to deny him a win as India finished at 350 9 lost the game. century.
“We are all very, very proud and happy,” said Reddy’s sister, who came to Melbourne from India with her parents just for the Test. “We came just for this game and it (the century) happened in this game. Of course, we are all nervous but we are sure he will succeed.”
My father was so exhausted that he could hardly speak. “The 100th game against Australia, a very strong team. So it’s a special day.”
