Nitish Kumar Reddy, youngest Indian centurion after Tendulkar, Pant in Australia; Land’s first Down Under in 8th place

Nitish Kumar Reddy became the first Indian batsman to score a century in Australia while batting at number 8 on Saturday (December 28). The young all-rounder celebrated his maiden century in international cricket with a boundary off long-on off Scott Boland in the final session of Day 3 of the fourth Test. The nearly 80,000 spectators at the iconic MCG stood to applaud as Nitish took off his helmet, went down on one knee and placed it on the handle to salute the sky. His father, who was present at the MCG when his 21-year-old son became the third youngest Indian to score a Test century in Australia, clapped and cheered with the thousands of Indian fans to celebrate an innings full of class, courage, quality and determination.

Questions were asked and eyebrows were raised when Nitish was picked for the Australia tour for the first time and then made his debut in the series opener in Perth, but the Andhra Pradesh cricketer won over the doubters with his consistent performances in the lower league .

Nitish, who was selected as the lone seam bowling all-rounder, was able to hold the ball but was unable to make breakthroughs like a fourth seamer normally would. This once again raised questions about his place in the Indian XI. But head coach Gautam Gambhir supported the 21-year-old. Such was the Indian team management’s faith in Nitish that they decided to stick with the right-hander ahead of Shubman Gill.

India wanted Washington Sundar in the team for the Boxing Day Test and instead of dropping Reddy, they decided to bench Gill. The move was heavily criticized on the first two days of the Test match, but on the third day both all-rounders held firm and reached a record score of over 100 to not only save the aftermath but also give India a realistic chance of saving the fourth Test.

Nitish, who has the lowest miss percentage among all batters in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 (as per Cricviz data), played another chanceless innings that was marked by swagger, patience and plenty of class.

He broke Anil Kumble’s record for the highest score (87) in Australia by an Indian batting at number 8 or lower and also became the youngest to score a Test century in Australia after Sachin Tendulkar and Rishabh Pant.

Youngest at the time of India’s first Test century in Australia

18 years 256 days Sachin Tendulkar Sydney 1992

21 years 92 days Rishabh Pant Sydney 2019

21 years 216 days Nitish Reddy Melbourne 2024

22 years 46 days Dattu Phadkar Adelaide 1948

Highest batting score 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 took India from 221/7 to 358/9 when the rain stopped on the third day.

The 129 partnership that Nitish formed with Sundar is now India’s highest for the 8th wicket in Australia alongside Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh in 2008.

More to come…