First Indian to Achieve This Milestone, Nitish Reddy Sets New Record with Australia
In the middle of a tough game on the third day of the fourth Test against Australia in Melbourne, India was in a tight spot. That's when Nitish Kumar Reddy stepped up in a significant manner from the No. 8 spot, obtaining a solid half-century and turning into the unlikely hero for India. Not only did his amazing performance help out his team when they needed it the most but Nitish also did something very important that had never been done before. Nitish hit eight sixes in this series, becoming the first Indian ever to do in Australia, which is very wonderful. By hitting those eight sixes, he matched what Michael Vaughan did in the 2002-03 Ashes and Chris Gayle in the 2009-10 series. At this moment, Nitish is up there with them for hitting the most sixes by a visiting player in a series in Australia.
8 sixes by Nitish Kumar Reddy in this series so far 🚀
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) December 28, 2024
The joint-most by a visiting batter in a Test series in Australia
via @StarSportsIndia | #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/FpfbXXGOkQ
On Day 3 by tea time, India got to 326/7 because Washington Sundar (40 not out) and Nitish (85 not out) were both still there playing without getting out. Nitish and Sundar worked really well together, adding 105 runs which somewhat saved India in the current test match. Even though India was still behind by 148 runs, these two middle-order players showed an inordinate percentage of determination which helped India move forward.
Early on, Steve Smith got a chance to get Washington out when he didn't catch the ball at second slip. Beginning the next part of the game at 244/7, the duo managed to score 82 runs in 24 overs and didn't get out, proving they were very good at paying attention and stopping the other team; that mistake by Smith turned out to be a major issue, and he likely felt very bad about not taking that opportunity.
By the 92nd over, India had hit over 300 runs, a significant quotient of that success was because Washington and Nitish did a great job together; their partnership was vitally important for avoiding the follow-on and actually attempting India in the game. Earlier, in the 83rd over, Nitish knocked the ball to an empty spot for a boundary and this got him his first Test fifty.
Hitting that half-century gave him a big increase in self-belief and he started scoring good runs even more.
At a time when Australia seemed to be in control, these two young players stepped up with a crucial partnership, playing the role of saviors for their team.
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