Nitish reached his maiden Test century, an innings laced with 10 fours and a six, as he soaked in the glory at the MCG in Melbourne.
When all hope was seemingly lost after India fell to a measly 191-6, chasing a mammoth 474 put up by the Australians in the first innings, it would be the swashbuckling Nitish Kumar Reddy who, along with Washington Sundar, would revive the innings and power India to recovery again.
Read More: Virat Kohli To Be Banned For Sydney Test After Physical Contact With Sam Konstas?
Playing with effortless ease, as he has throughout the series with the bat, Nitish would command the crease with an array of sensational drives coupled with timely defense to slowly, yet surely build his innings.
And in a dramatic 115th over, with one wicket remaining for India, the moment would finally arrive, as the Andhra Pradesh all-rounder would reap his reward, reaching his maiden Test century, an innings laced with 10 fours and a six, and soak in the glory at the MCG in Melbourne.
His innings would also go on to become the highest score registered by an Indian batter coming in at number 8 in Australia.
But, all this asks the question: who is he and how did he get here?
Who is Nitish Kumar Reddy?
Hailing from Visakhapatnam, the Andhra player has played 17 first-class games, making his debut in 2020 against Kerala. He has scored 566 at 20.96 and has 52 wickets to his name. In 22 List A appearances Reddy has managed 422 runs at 36.63 and claimed 14 wickets. He only has nine T20 games to his name, including the four IPL games he has played so far. In the 2023-24 Ranji season, Reddy made 366 runs in seven matches including and hundred and a fifty.
But Reddy made heads turn in age group cricket scoring 1237 runs at an average of 176.41 in the 2017-18 Vijay Merchant Trophy – a tournament record that earned him the Best Cricketer in the Under -16 Jagmohan Dalmiya award at the BCCI annual awards for the 2017–2018 season. He also went on to represent India B in the U19 age group.
Read More: Steve Smith Breaks Joe Root’s Record Of Most Test Centuries Against India
After a sensational IPL 2024 season, where the youngster stood out for his immculate hard-hitting skills, Nitish received a call-up to the Indian side in the shorter format, only to be cruelly denied by fate.
Days after being named in India’s squad for the Zimbabwe tour, a hernia niggle denied him the chance to play for the country, hence ruling him out yet again.
But, he would finally get to make his debut alongside pacer Mayank Yadav as well in India’s 1st T20I against Bangladesh, and would quickly make his mark, notching his maiden international T20 fifty for India, putting up a fiery 74 runs in just 34 balls, an innings peppered with 4 fours and 7 sixes, in just his second game for the Men in Blue.
As a reward for his instant exploits and immense potential, the all-roundre was named in the Indian sqaud facing off against the mighty Australians down under for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where he would continue to dazzle with consistent showings with the bat, ultimately to percolate to his maiden Test century in the fourth Test today.
