Nitish Kumar Reddy was horrified. He was at 85 off 119 when a spell of rain forced the players off the field. When they returned, the ball started to spin a little. So he decided to start again. Imagine he was on 0. He bowled 48 deliveries to score his next 12 runs and then, with a maiden Test century just one hit away, he saw one land just in his batting arc and he didn't just couldn't resist. The ball went straight into the air.
It was the MCG. More than 80,000 people watched. Millions more here. Everyone was waiting. He could have been too. Not just during this round or this tour. The fact that he's here in an Indian shirt means he goes to bed almost every night dreaming of this moment. Some mistakes help people grow, but this one…
The leading edge flew over the cover and landed just out of reach of Pat Cummins. Reddy went from 97 to 99, hand gripping the top of his helmet.
A scoop in the first hour of play on the third day had brought him into the middle. It was as if this shot would define the room; maybe even the whole test. As Rishabh Pant left the field, he turned his bat and looked at the end. That's where he touched the ball. The argument in favor of these clichés is generally imagine if it had come off. All right. Of course. He would have gotten four, maybe six points. That would still have left Australia with 279 more in the bank.
That’s why the risk wasn’t worth it. Not because of the shooting. Not because it backfired. But because at that time, India would not have gained much with its success but it would have lost a lot with its failure.
“He should not come into this dressing room,” Sunil Gavaskar said. Radio ABC. “He should go to the other locker room.”
Reddy entered into this tumult and restored order. But on 99 he was stuck on the non-striking side, watching India lose their ninth wicket and dark clouds gather in the west.
Will Mohammed Siraj's defense hold up?? This is almost not the case. Cummins beat his outside edge from the first ball. Will the rain stay away? It was the first key in the works; Until that downpour that prompted an early tea, Reddy had a strike rate of 71. After the intrusion, it dropped to 35. It was a necessary adjustment, but now…
Siraj ducked under a Cummins bouncer and immediately Reddy raised his bat with one hand and hit him with the other. One more ball until he comes back on strike. Siraj defended him and held the pose.
Reddy's father was at the MCG. In 2016, he quit his job because it would have caused him and his family to leave the station at the wrong time. His 13-year-old son had just been selected by the Andhra Cricket Association for the district-level trials. Mutyalu couldn't bring himself to go. He couldn't do this to his son. He could never have imagined that the sacrifice would yield so much. He was in tears when the hundred people finally arrived, falling back into the crowd behind him, clasping his hands in prayer.
Reddy, meanwhile, took a knee on the same pitch as Shane Warne had picked up his 700th Test wicket. He planted his bat in the same outfield where India had piled into Ravi Shastri's Audi and strolled out to celebrate their victory in the 1985 Benson and Hedges World Cricket Championship final. He placed his helmet on the handle and knelt down to recreate the hero's pose from the film. Bahubali.
“It’s a party. Honestly, he killed it,” Washington Sundar said at the end of the day. “I'm sure he has many more up his sleeve and it's just a matter of him getting several more hundreds.”
The MCG has been buzzing with a 19-year-old all this time, with Sam Konstas' scoops also receiving plenty of airtime. Now they were all under the influence of a 21 year old. Reddy was comfortable against Mitchell Starc. He shrugged off a shot from Cummins. He wouldn't be tempted by Scott Boland's tricks. And he was putting Nathan Lyon inside out against the corner even when he was new to the crease.
A strokeplay like that can stand on its own, but Reddy was able to hit like that despite India almost always being in trouble and counting on him to help bail them out. They were 73 for 6 in Perth and he took them to 150. They were 87 for 5 and 105 for 5 in Adelaide when he took his previous highest Test score in an innings and equaled it in the other. They were 191 for 6 in Melbourne and he passed them 300.
Reddy was able to do what Pant couldn't do. Just beat according to the situation. India needed a partnership and there was nothing stopping it from achieving such a partnership. The terrain was quite friendly. The bowling was good but not threatening. In reality, the only chances Australia had of picking up a wicket – until the ill-timed scoop – were a few mix-ups.
The Indian selectors took a big decision by choosing a youngster who averaged 21 years after 21 first-class matches. But in reality, his presence here is because he hasn't looked out of place against quality international bowlers in the IPL, and the fact that many of his strongest scoring options also involve pitching with a very straight bat. There was an attack on the field against Boland, who rushed with the second new ball, it was really “I know what I'm doing”. As time passed and his heart pounded, he played another, more emphatic, to evoke his century.
“I’m sure it will be remembered forever,” Washington said. “One thing about Nitish is that no matter what he does, on the field off the field, he is going to give 120%. It’s his approach to life, not just cricket. I saw him quite closely during the IPL as well. His work ethic and the things that he did before every game, around the games, was something that was very, very enjoyable for all of us to watch and we knew that something very special was going to be around the corner.
India will be delighted with these races; the circumstances surrounding them; the method in them. Most of the team, led by captain Rohit Sharma, was present near the dugout, cheering and cheering with the crowd. Eighty-five thousand people were really interested in cricket again, only this time their appreciation was directed at the batter, they were salivating over what he had already done and what he could still do.
