How Indian cricket unearthed a new star in Nitish Reddy

New Delhi, Dec 29: The Melbourne Cricket Ground held its breath in palpable tension as Nitish Kumar Reddy, batting at 99 not out, was to face the third ball of the 115th over from Scott Boland on Saturday. Standing in the stands, his father Mutyalu was remembering God earnestly.
Not far away, his mother, Manasa, and sister, Tejaswi, were also praying. Back in India, his coaches, Nirmal Kumar in Ranchi and CD Thomson in Hyderabad, were extremely tense as they watched the action from their respective TV screens. The whole situation resembled a tense scene from a Telugu movie potboiler – the hero about to get a major win, and his family anxiously hoping for it to happen.
Boland bowled a full ball at the stumps, and with an elegant loft over mid-on, Nitish reached his first Test century. The stadium, including the entire Indian team in the dugout, rose to applaud a splendid knock played by their youngest touring member Overwhelmed with joy, Mutyalu—who in 2016 left a secure government job to champion Nitish’s cricketing dreams—wept openly, his hands pressed together in prayer, thanking God amidst the deafening applause from fans around him.
The joyous tears of Manasa, Tejaswi, commentators, and spectators in India and at the MCG mirrored Nitish’s exuberant Bahubali-style celebration on hitting his first international century, coming after his Pushpa-inspired celebration on reaching the half-century mark.
Back home, Nirmal and Thomson were beaming with pride as Nitish marked his grand arrival in the international cricket arena. They say movies rarely mirror real life, but on December 28, 2024, in bustling Melbourne, the sounds of cheering crowds and the crack of the bat blurred the lines between reality and a cinematic dream as India unearthed a new cricket star in Nitish, who eventually made 114 on Sunday.“It’s been a joy and an absolute privilege to watch him bat. We’ve been wishing for this from a long time. I was watching it with my whole family back home and since all of us know him very well, we were getting pretty anxious when he refused a couple of singles as well.”“But there was celebration all around him getting the hundred. We’ve got a small baby in the house, which is my daughter’s son and he also got startled and joined the celebration. So, it was exhilarating to put it in a simple word. I came to Hyderabad to celebrate Christmas with the family and this is now a new year present in advance,” said the USA-based Thomson to IANS.
Nitish’s century thrilled Nirmal, who praised his family’s efforts, hardwork and sacrifice. “He came in the pressure situation, and to then share a hundred-plus stand with Washington Sundar, and get India past the follow-on, and hit the hundred in Australia in front of his father, mother and sister, absolutely wonderful.”
“His father struggled a lot for Nitish’s growth in cricket. He resigned from his government job and stayed back for Nitish’s cricket. He was so passionate about cricket and seeing Nitish’s abilities, he made a lot of sacrifices for him to play at the highest level. To see him happy feels so wonderful,” he said to IANS.
Nitish’s mature demeanor, where he showed zero signs of anxiousness or itchiness, incredibly also impressed Thomson. (IANS)