PrashantNews
When Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) on Saturday hit his maiden Test hundred, his next action to put helmet on his bat was a kind of gesture to tell millions of fans that a new cricket Bahubali was born at the iconic Melbourne cricket stadium (MCG).
Reddy showed no signs of nervousness to score his majestic century with some wonderful fours and sixes to save India from follow-on in the face of the ferocious Australian bowling attack. He took no time to hit a four at 99 to complete the ton.
Significantly, Reddy’s century came at a time when ace batters like Captain Rohit Sharma and his predecessor Virat Kohli are struggling with poor forms. Reddy, a young batsman from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh simply stole the show at Melbourne. He came like a breath of fresh air.
Not only Reddy helped India to avoid follow-on but also remained unbeaten at 105 with M Siraj giving him company for the last wicket. At the moment, it looks as if India may have avoided an embarrassing defeat at the end of day 3 though it is very difficult to predict what will happen in the next two days.
But the fact remains that Reddy has scripted history at MCG. Remember, Reddy came to bat when India was struggling at 191/6. In between, Reddy made a Pushpa-style gesture when he completed his fifty.
Reddy, who plays IPL for SRH, has been India’s leading run-scorer in the current tour of Australia.
Meanwhile, legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar gave a standing ovation to Reddy in the commentary box and termed him as star of the Indian cricket. “This is the first Test hundred and he is going to score many more in the near future,” an elated Gavaskar said.