Nitish Kumar Reddy, India's latest Test centurion, owes his place among India's cricket heroes to the sacrifices made by his father, Mutyala Reddy, who incidentally was present at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday and watched his son score a well-deserved maiden international and Test hundred.
The climax of Nitish's century came amid high-drama on the closing stages of third day's play in the fourth Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy. And when he hit Scott Boland straight for a four to reach the three-figure mark, the father had his arms in the air and tears in his eyes, as those around an emotional Mutyala congratulated him.
On the ground, Nitish got down on one knee, put his helmet on the bat handle, and looked skywards to thank the almighty. And as he walked back, at 105 not out, the entire Indian squad lined up at the boundary ropes -- led by their beaming skipper Rohit Sharma, applauding the 21-year-old all-rounder.
But to reach this stage was not easy, at least not until Nitish realised the meaning of sacrifices his father continued to make while backing his son's dream to play for India.
"To be honest, I was not serious when I was young,' Nitish said in a video on BCCI.tv. "My father left his job for me and there has been a lot of sacrifice behind my story. One day, I saw him crying because of the financial problems we were facing, and I was like, 'this is not how you can be'. Then I got serious. I gave my first jersey to him and saw the happiness in his face."
At the age-group tournaments in Andhra Pradesh, the boy from Visakhapatnam caught the eye of former India wicketkeeper and selector MSK Prasad, before he started training at the Andhra Cricket Academy. He made a name for himself with his knock of 441 against Nagaland in the Vijay Merchant Trophy 2016-17, besides taking 26 wickets in the tournament, which introduced him as a batting all-rounder with a lot of potential.
This was after Mutyala was told, following Nitish's inconsistent show during his first year in district-level cricket, that his son was not a good enough player and should focus on his academic career instead.
But instead, Mutyala found ways to help his son improve by training at better-equipped facilities like the Municipal Stadium in Visakhapatnam and Pothinamallaya Palem.
Three years after making his first-class debut for Andhra Pradesh, Nitish's all-round skills earned him an Indian Premier League (IPL) contract with the Sunrisers Hyderabad, which became his ticket to the Indian team. Bought for his base price of Rs 20 lakh in 2023, Reddy came into his own when given regular chances to play in the 2024 IPL season, and his crucial innings with the bat contributed in taking the Sunrisers to the playoffs.
In October this year, he made his international debut against Bangladesh in a T20I and then was retained by SRH for a contract worth Rs 6 crore.
In between he received his maiden Test call-up for the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, which surprised a few; but he ended those doubts over his red-ball credentials with a consistent show, especially with the bat, in four Tests now.
With 284 runs in six innings so far at an average of 71.00, Reddy is currently India's top scorer of this BGT.
The vindication came on Saturday, when his maiden Test hundred not only confirmed him as the new find of Indian cricket but also bailed India out of trouble.
But it wasn't without the 'nervous 90s' drama, which saw Nitish losing Washington Sundar first and then Jasprit Bumrah to leave him one run away and India at 350 for 9. But Mohammed Siraj played out three deliveries from Pat Cummins, which gave the strike back to Reddy, who didn't waste the chance and reached his century.
"We are all very, very proud and happy," said Reddy's sister, who had arived from India, along with their mother and father, to Melbourne for this Test alone. "We came for this match only, and it (the century) happened in this match. Of course, we were all tense, but we were sure he will make it."
The overwhelmed father was barely able to speak. "First hundred, against Autralia, a very big team. So it's a special day."
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