BGT Trophy: Indian cricketer Nitish Reddy’s maiden 100 gives sigh of relief to fans in Melbourne

Indian Cricketer, Nitish Kumar Reddy scored his maiden test hundred during the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne Cricket Ground in front of a huge crowd of 83,000 people that included his father, who enjoyed it with tears of joy, sparkling in his eyes. 

With this remarkable knock, the 21-year-old Nitish Kumar Reddy engraved his name in the pages of cricketing history as he became the first batter to smash a century at No.8 or below for Team India in Australia. 

The young Indian player stepped up when the team was struggling to avoid the follow-on and smashed a classy and mature knock. Nitish Reddy got to his maiden hundred in international cricket with a four over long-on off Scott Boland in the final session of Day 3 in the fourth test. 

Nitish Reddy dedicates century to his father 

Following his electrifying knock, Nitish Reddy dedicated his knock to his father, Mutyala Reddy. He shared his journey from being a cricket-loving child in Visakhapatnam to scoring a historic century at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). 

He shared that his father had a secure government job and was providing stability to his family. However, when he saw the spark in his young son’s eyes every time cricket was mentioned, he realized Nitish's dream of playing for India. 

Therefore, Nitish’ father chose to resign from his job to support his son’s cricketing aspirations. 

“I was 12 or 13 when my dad quit his government job. He quit his job and dedicated his time to my game,” said Nitish Kumar Reddy. 

Nitish Kumar Reddy became saviour for Team India 

The Indian team was 161/6 and was in trouble situation when Nitish Kumar Reddy stood tall and scored a century to remember in the history of Boxing Day Test. The player showed great composure and played the ball on its merit. 

Washington Sundar also provided great support to the player from the other end and duo kept the fight on for India and deficit the lead into 116 runs. 

The Indian team and the players also gave standing ovation to Nitish Kumar Reddy, celebrating his first ever international hundred. His knock was appreciated by all the players and coaches of Indian team who described his knock as ‘commendable’. 

The former Australian cricketer, Adam Gilchrist also interviewed the proud father of Nitish Reddy. 

"I was very nervous when he was at 99*, I was constantly praying for my kid's century,” said Mutyala Reddy. 

Nitish Reddy joins the elite club

Nitish Kumar Reddy also joined the elite club and became the 10th Indian player to score a hundred in the boxing day test series. The other layers who are a part of this club includes, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Kapil Dev, KL Rahul, Mohammad Azharuddin, Virender Sehwag and Cheteshwar Pujara. 

How the game went on Day 3 of Boxing Test between India and Australia?

Day 3 has been phenomenal for India team as they have made a remarkable comeback from 159/5 To 358/9. India team lost only 4 wickets and scored almost 200 runs on Day 3. 

However, Australia is still in a lead of 116 runs and India have just one wicket in hand. It would be interesting to see further development as the game proceeds to the 4th day of the Boxing test series between Australia and India.