The Man, The Show, Nitish Kumar Reddy: The Nervousness Before The Century

Nitish Kumar Reddy, a 21-year-old youngster from India, engraved his name on the world’s oldest cricket stadium, Melbourne Cricket Ground. By the end of Day 3, he was at 105, not out. Scoring a century against all odds: collapse, big total in front, WTC finals. But the young one performed way beyond everyone's imagination.

After a horrible end of the two, India was at 164/5, and India lost three wickets in the last half an hour. The 102-run partnership between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli ended when Jaiswal got run out after a miscommunication between the two. After the dismissal of Jadeja and Pant, both Sundar and Reddy contributed to one of the best partnerships for the eighth wicket; it was for the first time in cricket that no. Eight and nine batters both played more than 150 balls.

The Excitement Before the Century 

It was a surreal moment when he reached the milestone of his maiden century, but before that, their nervousness was at its peak. When the early tea was taken due to the bad light and rain expectation, India was at, and Nitish Reddy was playing at 85. The break got very long, and the game started back again after over an hour.

After the player, both Washington Sundar and Nitish Reddy needed to restart their innings and play with extra caution. Both did so and left all the balls outside the off-stump.

Nervousness increased when Sundar got out on Nathan Lyon's ball in the slips; soon after that, Jasprit Bumrah was also dismissed. Siraj came to bat, and three balls were remaining in the over. The excitement in the fans was like Siraj had scored a half-century when he successfully defended the last ball of the over.

MCG ERUPTS IN JOY AFTER SIRAJ'S DEFENCE. pic.twitter.com/b4uUHDKFmj

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) December 28, 2024

Nitish Reddy finally completed the century in the next over with the four over the mid-on. The stadium went crazy, tears, cheers and clapping from both the team's supporters and players in the stadium. The tears in his father's eyes were a sight to behold that after so much hard work and selflessness, it all paid off.

THE CELEBRATION FROM NKR'S FATHER IS SIMPLY AMAZING. 🥹❤️

- Nitish Kumar Reddy, you've made whole India proud. 🇮🇳pic.twitter.com/Gx1PFY7RnE

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) December 28, 2024