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Pressure builds character. Pressure builds players. And nothing could be more true for the Indian team as they continue to find world-class talent in the Test format while the chips are down and the team is under incredible pressure. The 2021 Border-Gavaskar Trophy gave India Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar and Shubman Gill. England’s tour of India in 2024 helped India find Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan.
AUS vs IND 4th Test, DAY 3 HIGHLIGHTS| SCORECARD
Life came full circle again on the 2024 tour of Australia, as Nitish Kumar Reddy said a heroic rescue mission to save India from absolute horror during the iconic Boxing Day Test. When the chips were down, the 21-year-old all-rounder of Indian Premier League fame took the opportunity to create history in the Boxing Day Test.
Nitish’s historic knock at number 8
On Saturday, December 28 Nitish Kumar Reddy became the first Indian batsman at number 8 to hit a hundred in Australia. Nitish’s innings was praised by the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, who praised the all-rounder’s calm head during his maiden series for India. Gavaskar, who was seething over Rishabh Pant’s dismissal on the morning of Day 3, did not hold back in praising Nitish and rejoiced over the batsman’s scintillating hundred in 171 balls.
“I think his shot selection says something about temperament. He has used the high lofted shot to good effect. He uses his feet and hits it across the field. Then he plays a classic straight drive, down the ground, and then He plays another beautiful high shot. So he is aware of where the field players are and plays accordingly, there was a need to score, but also that you have to play as long as possible to try to take the game deep into the fifth day.” , Sunil Gavaskar told Star Sports.
And why not? Nitish Reddy had not only saved the over for India, but he had played almost 50 overs alongside Washington Sundar, to stabilize the Indian innings, which seemed to be in a hurry to be thrown out. Nitish was in the dugout on Day 2 and early on Day 3 and witnessed hara-kiri on the field as Yashasvi Jaiswal was left exhausted after an argument with Virat Kohli before the senior batsman pushed the ball to wicketkeeper Alex Carey. Later, he watched Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja almost run themselves out three times early on Day 3. If that wasn’t enough, Nitish witnessed an inexplicable and unnecessary shot from Rishabh Pant – which saw India’s biggest X-factor return to the pavilion cheaply. , leaving India over 280 runs behind Australia’s first innings total.
The challenges before the masterclass
Since the situation was very uncertain on a cloudy day in Melbourne, Nitish got to work. First he tried to play shots down the ground, getting quick singles and regular boundaries early in his innings, which again increased the pressure on the Australian bowlers. And later, when the Australian bowling attack delivered bullets, Nitish calmly bowed to the pressure.
A look at Nitish’s wagon wheel shows that he exploited the gaps in the Australian field by scoring from all over the park – mostly through the covers, where he scored almost a quarter of his runs (25 – including 4 boundaries).
According to Cricviz data, Nitish has the lowest false shot percentage among all Indian batsmen in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It was a display of incredible mental strength from the young all-rounder, who kept the likes of Starc, Cummins, Boland and Nathan Lyon at bay throughout his innings.
The many minds behind Nitish
Nitish, in an exclusive interaction with India Today Digitalabout the mental side of things after his 2024 IPL season where he had won the Emerging Player of the Year award. Nitish had credited Pat Cummins for helping him with the mental side of things.
“I have spoken a lot to Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Pat Cummins about execution and planning. They are experienced players and I have tried to learn the mental side of the game from them,” Nitish had told India Today.
In the same interview, Nitish had spoken about learning the art of batting from Heinrich Klaasen, who had asked him to dive deep into games whenever he felt the team was under pressure.
“I’ve been working a lot on my batting. It’s finally working. I’m grateful that all the hard work and dedication paid off. I spoke to Klaasen about taking the game to the end and playing the spinners. I kept him closely and he gave me very good answers whenever I asked him something,” Nitish had said.
“The biggest lesson of the season is that I took the game to the end. In some games I played shots that were not necessary at the time. I should have played normal cricket and I could have scored runs easily. I have a risky option.” at that time and I learned that I had to spend more time in the crease and play these shots later, I got carried away and next time I won’t do that,” he had further added.
Klaasen’s advice was reflected in Nitish’s batting on Saturday. The all-rounder was unperturbed as India had lost six wickets and were still 280 runs short of Australia’s first-innings total. In fact, Nitish’s first bad shot came very late in the evening, when he tried to tap a ball off his pads, almost giving Starc a catch on his deep fine leg. His second bad shot came on 97*, when he tried to hit Cummins through cover to complete his century.
Nitish’s shot selection created nervous moments for the batsman in the next 5 minutes. He had made the mistake of giving Jasprit Bumrah the strike for a full over against Pat Cummins, which resulted in the latter’s wicket. Nitish’s father was seen praying on the sidelines, hoping that India’s last batsman – Mohammed Siraj – would play out Cummins’ remaining balls. After Siraj was able to successfully negotiate the rest of the over, the Indian fans breathed a sigh of relief.
The Bumrah brain fade worsened and Nitish almost lost his wicket when he was on 99*. He survived a close LBW call from Scott Boland. The mood at the MCG at that point became hesitant and his father had a worried look on his face. However, the fear turned to euphoria for Nitish’s father and the fans present at the MCG as the batsman hit Boland through the line for a four to complete a sensational century in 171 balls.
Maybe that one brain fade is allowed. The fighter had played more than 150 balls at that point in the innings and the desperation of the milestone perhaps got the better of him. However, an argument can be made that despite getting a hundred, Nitish may end up giving himself a slap on the wrist tonight for playing that rash shot before achieving the coveted feat.
With a hundred at the MCG, Nitish is now the Indian team’s highest scorer in the ongoing BGT in-debut series for a 21-year-old touring Australia. He has already scored 284 runs, more than Virat Kohli’s 162, or Rohit Sharma’s 19.
Nitish’s MCG masterclass on Day 3 showed that the young all-rounder, with a great cricketing brain, is not only a quick learner but will also stick around for a long time. His ability to remain calm under pressure and methodically maneuver through the gears proves that pressure has once again helped India find its next generation superstar in the world of cricket.
Published by:
Debodinna Chakraborty
Published on:
December 28, 2024