Excited fans welcomed Nitish Reddy in his hometown Visakhapatnam after Australia Test series.© X (formerly Twitter)

Nitish Reddy wanted to confute his critics and the naysayers who doubted his ability to excel in Test format, and the gritty century at the iconic MCG was his way of conveying that he belongs to highest level of cricket. A few former players, including a former chairman of selectors, were skceptical about Reddy’s elevation as a Test player but with 293 runs in six innings and a batting average of 58-plus, he has answered them back in a befitting manner. Reddy’s 114 formed the cornerstone of India’s first innings score of 369 and attracted a lot of attention on the young batter.

Did you ever feel that you will be highest scorer in this team? “Some people doubted me, like a youngster who played IPL, can’t perform in such a big series. I know a lot of people did talk like that,” Reddy said, sharing his frustration after the end of fourth day’s play.

“I just want to make them feel wrong about what they have said about me and that’s what I am doing, I want people to know that I am here to give my 100 percent for Indian team,” the 21-year-old said and his plain speaking was as aggressive as his purposeful batting.

Asked how he looks at the past one month during which his life changed, he was quick to reply: “I guess for you guys, it is like one or two months. For me, it’s like, I can see my my past two to three years. How hard I’ve been working on my batting and bowling.” A lot of people don’t know that Reddy had hired side-arm throwdown experts before the start of 2024 IPL and practised against them with speed of deliveries cranking up to 145 clicks from around 18 yards.

“After the first IPL season, I realised what I have to improve my batting and I came up with a plan. When I got the off-season, I worked a lot on my batting and that’s what is giving results now. It’s not about the one month and two months, I have done the work from last two-three years to be here.” The sacrifices made by his family is well documented and the Australian media was also keen to know about the man behind the player and the role of his father Mutyalu.

“To be honest, my father had 25 years of service in central government and when I was a nobody, and hadn’t played a state-level game, the first person who believed in me was my father,” he was a touch emotional.

“He believed in me and he resigned from his job for me. He would take me to the ground, gym, always he wanted to be with me. He made a lot of sacrifices. If I have to tell about him, time won’t be sufficient but I am so grateful to have a father like him.” “I helped my team in a difficult situation to where we can fight back strongly. So that was a special century for me and for my father as well.” Talk about Virat Kohli, the man he looked up to when he decided to pursue the game, and he said it was a surreal moment to see his idol give him a standing ovation.

“I have been watching Virat from my childhood. He is my idol and now finally I have played with him. When he scored a hundred in Perth, I was at the non-striker’s end. I felt so happy.

“Now, I scored a century, he appreciated me. He came to me and said that ‘you really played well, you got the team back in the game’. I always dreamt about that moment and finally when he talked with me, that’s the best moment for me,” he said as his face beamed.

Asked about the chase on the final day, Reddy said: “First we have to take their last wicket. We will come back strongly and rectify our mistakes from the first innings.”

India’s rising star Nitish Kumar Reddy scripted history on Saturday with his maiden Test century against Australia. He was unbeaten at the score of 105 at the end of play on Day 3 of the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Nitish’s maiden Test century came at a critical juncture in the Boxing Day Test. Walking in with India reeling, his innings of unbeaten 105 not only stabilised the team but showcased his temperament and skill under pressure. Facing 171 balls, his knock included 10 boundaries and a six.

After his fighting knock, Nitish’s family went to meet him at his hotel room and they all found it hard to control their emotions. Watch the video here:

The Reddy family has been a bundle of emotions today. Witness the magical moment as they embrace Nitish after he wowed the world with his extraordinary maiden Test century at the MCG.

A day etched in memories… pic.twitter.com/uz9mrASuRm

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 28, 2024

Nitish entered the fray at a precarious moment for India, who were struggling at 221/7 after losing Rishabh Pant (28) and Ravindra Jadeja (17) early in the morning session. Undeterred by the mounting pressure, the 21-year-old produced an innings of incredible poise and determination, showcasing his ability to rise to the occasion against a formidable Australian bowling lineup.

Mutayala Reddy’s unwavering belief in his son’s abilities led him to quit his stable job at Hindustan Zinc in 2016 to focus entirely on Nitish’s cricketing aspirations. This decision came with financial hardships, sleepless nights, and countless sacrifices, but Mutayala never wavered in his commitment.

“My father left his job for me,” Nitish revealed in a BCCI video. “I saw him crying once because of the financial difficulties we were facing, and it changed something in me. I realised I had to take cricket seriously-not just for myself but for him. I still remember giving him my first jersey and seeing the happiness on his face. That moment became my motivation.”.

The innings also highlighted Reddy’s remarkable consistency throughout the series. Before his MCG heroics, he had delivered useful contributions with scores of 41, 38 not out, 42, and 16 across five innings in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

With India still trailing by 116 runs, Reddy’s role will remain critical as he resumes batting with Mohammed Siraj on Day 4.

(With IANS Inputs)

Wearing the India blue jersey for the first time before the T20I series opener against Bangladesh earlier this month, Nitish Kumar Reddy felt a surge of happiness that prompted him to take a mirror selfie. Later on, he found himself glued to that picture on his phone, savouring the happiness of realising a dream he had nurtured since he first started playing the sport as a child – to play for India. Reddy’s exceptional performance of making 303 runs in 11 innings and taking three wickets with his seam-up for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2024 earned him the Emerging Player of the Season award. It led to his quick entry to the national set-up via a call-up for the five T20Is against Zimbabwe in July. But a hernia issue prevented him from joining the tour, delaying his chance to play for India.

The wait finally culminated in the lead-up to India’s first T20I against Bangladesh in Gwalior, where Reddy made his international debut. “That moment, I felt prouder of myself on how far I had come, something I had dreamt of. Now, I was finally about to represent India, as I knew I was going to get a chance in the first match.

“I was so excited, and at the same time, that nervousness was also there of representing India. But I always used to believe that whoever handles that pressure well, they are the ones going to sustain playing at a bigger level. So it somehow helped me to manage that pressure and did well in the series,” said Reddy in an exclusive conversation with IANS.

Reddy is currently in Mackay, Australia, where India A is preparing to compete in the first of two four-day matches against Australia A beginning on Thursday. With his selection in India’s squad for the crucial Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Reddy is a contender to fulfill India’s quest for a proficient fast-bowling all-rounder in Tests.

‘To be honest, I was so excited to play in Australia with India A squad because I would get a little more experience of playing on the Australian pitches and conditions before going into the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

“When I heard the news that I had been selected in the Indian Test cricket team, I was very happy, as it’s everyone’s dream to play for India in white-ball and more so, in red-ball cricket. For me, that dream is now on the verge of becoming a reality. I just want to improve myself as much as I can and deliver through performances for the Indian team,” he added.

Being in Australia, a favoured location for fast bowlers, Reddy has taken notes of modifications required to succeed in such conditions. “I can notice some difference between Indian and Australian pitches – the bounce over here is a bit higher than ones we have back home, which has to be adjusted accordingly, and that’s what we are exactly trying to do here.

“When I am practising my bowling, I am just enjoying the bounce balls getting here and adjusting accordingly. Hitting that five-six metre length is quite good in Australia, as back in India you need to hit that six-metre length for good length balls.”

The Indian team management, led by coach Gautam Gambhir, also recognizes Reddy’s bowling skills and the reward it can bring. “They are expecting some overs from me as well. They already know how I bat and have wanted me to bowl consistent lengths with the red-ball. Specifically they didn’t mention my role, but they have wanted for me to utilize my bowling skills as well,” he stated.

Reddy’s entry into the limelight began in red-ball cricket when he opened the 2017/18 Vijay Merchant Trophy with a triple-century against Tamil Nadu, then hit 190 against Karnataka, and went on to score a huge 441 runs off 345 balls against Nagaland. He received the honor of being the top U-16 cricketer at the 2018 BCCI awards for scoring 1237 runs with an average of 176.41.

While moving from age-group cricket to representing Andhra in first-class cricket, Reddy, a right-handed batsman, shifted to being a lower-order batter to focus on making use of his seam-bowling abilities. Assuming the new-ball bowling duties for Andhra proved to be successful as he secured 25 wickets, the most by a bowler from his state in the last season of the Ranji Trophy.

Despite his batting average of 21.45 in first-class cricket, Reddy is confident of turning it around with the bat, thanks to his shadow batting routine. “I would say shadow practice is the one thing that changed everything for me. I still remember when I was at U14 and U16, I used to do shadow practicing a lot because my father used to scold me for doing this thing.

“Somehow I left that and then forgot about it in middle. Now from the past two years, I started doing the shadow practice again, and that has made a lot of impact on my cricket. I always want to make sure that I do good shadow practice for at least 30-45 minutes in the day, as that’s the only thing I do mentally before going for a game.”

The impact of practicing in the shadows and improving his ability to hit powerful shots while playing for SRH was clear in his 64 runs against Punjab Kings, which helped SRH win by a single run. His undefeated 76 runs against Rajasthan Royals led the team to a two-run victory. The most powerful impact, though, came via a breathtaking 74 scored against Bangladesh in New Delhi on October 9.

During the power-play at the Arun Jaitley Stadium game, India lost captain Suryakumar Yadav, Abhishek Sharma, and Sanju Samson. Reddy and Rinku Singh intended to rotate strike and adjust to the situation. However, Reddy was biding his time to strike, and the opportunity arose when he hit a six off a free-hit due to a no-ball from Mahmudullah.

Reddy’s powerful hitting on the leg-side helped him score 74 runs in just 34 balls, ultimately securing India’s series-winning triumph from a challenging position. “I saw that moment came when the spinner was coming to bowl at that time and I felt this is the over to do it. When I took that chance, the Bangladesh team went down.

“When that spinner came (Rishad Hossain), I remember hitting two sixes down the ground and they were back under pressure. For the first six overs, we were in pressure and when I actually freed my arms at that time they were sent under pressure. That’s where I saw the fear in their faces and did what I had to do.”

Reddy thoroughly researches what is required of him in terms of batting and bowling for any game, with help from analysts, regardless of the format. “For batting preparation, I just want to see how they bowl, like do they have googly, off-break or leg-spin, the kind of slower ones they bowl – either off-cutter or back of the arm.”

“I also see what variation is there in them, so that when I go and play in the middle, it should not be surprising for me. From a bowling perspective, it’s all about planning what to bowl in various situation. Like, if off-side is a bigger boundary, I can bowl wide-yorkers or wide-slow ones. I also watch batters’ videos for seeing what shots they are strong in and what lengths I can bowl to curb them.”

The possibility of Reddy facing Pat Cummins and Travis Head in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy excites him, especially since they were previously associated at the SRH camp, with Cummins as his captain and Head as his teammate.

“I want to experience how it is like playing against them, as compared to playing with Pat and Travis at SRH. Let’s see how it goes and I hope everything goes as per how we plan accordingly.”

Outside of cricket, Reddy likes going for a walk with his team-mates in streets after dinner and watching movies of Telugu film actor Mahesh Babu, of who he is a big fan. He also enjoys playing a lot of PUBG with his friends, which he calls as a ‘stress buster’.

“It’s been five-six years of playing this game. Like whenever I had a bad or not so happy performances, I kind of come to play PUBG and that’s kind of satisfying and refreshing for me.”

While passionate cricket fans would wake up at 4:30 am to watch India’s Tests in Australia, a young Reddy would start his day at 5 am, preparing to travel 20 km daily to practice at the Visakhapatnam stadium.

Despite not being able to watch India’s Tests in Australia on TV, he looked forward to catching up on them once he was back home. He fondly remembers every Test India played in Australia as ‘so good’, especially the intense matchups between the formidable Australian team and the skillful Indian players.

Reddy will face intense all-round scrutiny as he competes in foreign conditions for the first time through the India ‘A’ side, against the likes of international players like Cameron Bancroft and Marcus Harris.

But Reddy’s experience of performing in high-pressure situations in the IPL and a prior taste of playing international cricket are expected to give him an advantage as he strives to fulfill another childhood dream – of playing Test cricket for India.

File photo of Nitish Reddy.© X (formerly Twitter)