Nitish Kumar Reddy Becomes Youngest Indian Centurion in Australia Since Tendulkar and Pant; Country's First No. 8 to Achieve Milestone Down Under

Nitish Kumar Reddy made history on Saturday (December 28) as he became the first Indian batter to score a century in Australia while batting at No.8. The talented all-rounder achieved this milestone with a boundary off Scott Boland during the final session of Day 3 in the fourth Test match. The tremendous crowd of nearly 80,000 at the renowned MCG rose to their feet in applause as Nitish removed his helmet, knelt down, and placed it on top of the handle in a salute to the sky. His proud father, who was in attendance, joined the thousands of Indian supporters in cheering for his 21-year-old son. Nitish's innings was a display of remarkable skill, determination, and quality, earning him the title of the third youngest Indian to score a maiden Test century in Australia.

There were questions asked and eyebrows raised when Nitish was first picked for the Australia tour and then handed debut in the series opener in Perth but the Andhra Pradesh cricketer proved the doubters with his consistent performances in the lower-order.

Picked as the lone seam-bowling all-rounder, Nitish did a holding job with the ball but wasn't able to provide breakthroughs like a fourth seamer would generally do. This, once again, raised questions about his place in the Indian XI. But head coach Gautam Gambhir backed the 21-year-old. Such was the Indian team management's confidence in Nitish that they decided to stick with the right-hander even ahead of Shubman Gill.

India wanted Washington Sundar in the side for the Boxing Day Test, and instead of dropping Reddy, they decided to bench Gill. The move was heavily criticised for the first two days of the Test match, but on Day 3, both all-rounders stood up to stitch a record 100-plus stand to not only save the follow-on but also give India a realistic chance of saving the fourth Test.

Nitish who has the lowest percentage of false shots (according to Cricviz data) among all batters in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, played another chanceless innings that had swagger, patience and a lot of class.

He broke Anil Kumble's record for the highest score (87) by an Indian in Australia batting at No.8 or lower and also became the youngest after Sachin Tendulkar and Rishabh Pant to score a Test century in Australia.

Youngest at the time of maiden Test century for India in Australia

18y 256d Sachin Tendulkar Sydney 1992

21y 92d Rishabh Pant Sydney 2019

21y 216d Nitish Reddy Melbourne 2024

22y 46d Dattu Phadkar Adelaide 1948

Highest score batting at No. 8 or below for India in Australia

105* Nitish Reddy Melbourne 2024

87 Anil Kumble Adelaide 2008

81 Ravindra Jadeja Sydney 2019

67* Kiran More Melbourne 1991

67 Shardul Thakur Brisbane 2021

Along with Sundar, Nitish dragged India from 221/7 to 358/9 as rain stopped play on Day 3.

The 129-run partnership that Nitish put on with Sundar is now the joint-highest for India for the 8th wicket in Australia, along with Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh's effort in 2008.

More to follow…

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