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After suffering a collapse on Day 2 of the fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne, the Indian cricket team bounced back in style, courtesy a century knock from Nitish Kumar Reddy. Resuming the innings at 164/5, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja could not do much with the bat as they departed at the scores of 28 and 17 respectively.
Thereafter, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar stood up and stitched a crucial partnership for the eighth wicket. While Sundar departed having scored 50 off 176 deliveries, Nitish Reddy went onto score his maiden Test century. He smashed Scott Boland’s full-length delivery for a boundary in the 115th over to reach the three-figure mark with his innings being laced with 10 boundaries and one maximum.
Nitish Kumar Reddy’s father breaks down in tears after son’s maiden Test 100
With the game getting intense and Nitish Kumar Reddy batting at 99, the camera continuously panned towards the crowd which had his family in attendance. As he smashed Boland’s third delivery of the over to a boundary over mid-on fielder, Reddy’s father Mutyala was seen in tears as the Indian all-rounder etched historic feat.
However, soon afterwards the game was interrupted due to bad light, the broadcasters approached him for an interview. Speaking to the broadcasters, Mutyala Reddy could not control his emotions. "For our family, it's a special day and we cannot forget this day in our life. He has been performing well since the age group of 14-15 and now in international cricket, it's a very special feeling,” Mutyala Reddy said in an interview with Adam Gilchrist.
Watch Mutyala Reddy speak after son's maiden Test ton:
On being asked of his emotions when Nitish was batting on 99 with one wicket remaining, Mutyala Reddy said, “I was very tensed. Only the last wicket was remaining. Thankfully Siraj managed to survive." It is to be noted that Reddy's father had contributed a lot in his son's cricketing journey. Speaking in an interview with BCCI.TV, Nitish Kumar Reddy revealed, "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.”
