Nitish Kumar Reddy (Photo: X/BCCI)
Team India's young talent Nitish Kumar Reddy returned to making headlines as he smashed his maiden international century during the fourth Test against Australia at Melbourne on Saturday.
After valiant near 50 scores in the earlier matches, Nitish with his fearless fight, not only managed to rescue the team but also brought up his first hundred.
Earlier, the 21-year-old all rounder created history after becoming the first Indian batter to score 8 sixes against Australia in a series. He also levelled the world record for hitting the most number of sixes against Australia by a touring batsman.
England's Micheal Vaghan and West Indies' Chris Gayle also hit 8 maximums against Australia down under.
Before today's feat Nitish had a high score 74 runs in his just began international career. He smashed 74 in his second T20I appearance for India this year against Bangladesh in Delhi.
But who is Nitish Kumar Reddy?
The Boxing Day Test centurion was born in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam in 2003 and picked a cricket bat at the age 5.
"He used to play cricket at the age of 5 with a plastic bat and would regularly visit the Hindustan Zinc grounds to watch seniors play," Nitish's wikipedia page reads.
However, Nitish's dad, Mutyala Reddy, quit his job at Hindustan Zinc after he was transferred to Udaipur, prioritizing his son's cricket future.
Nitish, who made his international debut for India on October 6 this year in a T20 match against Bangladesh, got called up for the Border Gavaskar Trophy and wore the Test cap on November 22.
However, his rise to fame started with his appearances for IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Nitish was first bought by SRH for Rs 20 Lakh during the 2023 season and was named the 'Emerging Player of the year' award for IPL 2024. The all-rounder scored 303 runs and picked 3 wickets in the season.
The Hyderabad-based franchise retained Nitish for Rs 6 crore for the upcoming season to be held from March 14.
Moreover, he was also honored by the BCCI with Best cricketer in the under-16 award, making him the first player from Andhra Cricket Association to receive a BCCI honor.
However, his journey was not all easy. In a video released by India's cricket governing body, Nitish said he was not serious about the game until he saw his dad cry over financial problems.
"To be honest I was not that serious about cricket, my father left his job for me, there have been a lot of sacrifices behind my story. one day I saw him crying because of financial problems and I was like this is not how I play, my father was making sacrifices and I was playing cricket for fun," Nitish said.
He said that incident changed his life and he put in a lot of hard work to reach this place. "At that time I took it seriously and after one year I got the growth, I did the hard work."
His dad has a major role in shaping his career and his personality.
"Everyone wants to be a hero in their life, but in Nitish's story Mutyala Reddy is the hero. His father never gave up on him despite receiving a lot of criticism even from close family members. Nitish witnessed it all. His hardwork fuels Nitish to achieve something in life," the right handed player's childhood coach told a reputed media house in an interview.
Meanwhile, Team India are currently 9 down after stumps on Day 3, with Reddy still standing his ground at 105* accompanied by Siraj.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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