Nitish Kumar Reddy’s father touches Sunil Gavaskar’s feet at MCG after son’s hundred; Here’s what happens next

Nitish Kumar Reddy’s father, Mutyala Reddy, touched the legendary Sunil Gavaskar’s feet in an emotional meeting on the sidelines of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) after his son scored a maiden Test ton against Australia in the ongoing fourth Test on Saturday. Along with Mutyala were his Nitish mother, sister and brother.

In the video that went viral, Mutyala could be seen getting on both knees and touching Gavaskar’s feet before the duo embraced. The former India captain also greeted the other members of the Reddy family with folded hands and said “Bless you.”

“You know the huge sacrifices he made (in Nitish’s journey) and I have tears in my eyes because of you. “India has found a gem in cricket through you,” Gavaskar further said in a hushed voice.

Nitish’s mother, who was also emotional, told Gavaskar that she still couldn’t believe her son was playing at such a big venue and pulling off such a “big innings”.

The 21-year-old Reddy started the fourth day with an overnight score of 105 and could only add nine runs on Sunday and played a big role in India reducing the deficit to 105 runs after Australia scored 474 runs. India were completely out for 369.

After scoring a string of scores around 40 in the first three Tests, Nitish came to bat on the third day following the fall of Rishabh Pant as India were reeling at 191/6. He lost Ravindra Jadeja Coon before Washington Sundar joined the Andhra Pradesh batter as the duo added 127 runs for the eighth wicket to bail India out of trouble.

Reddy’s hundred brings tears to Shastri’s eyes

Earlier on Saturday, former India coach Ravi Shastri also became emotional as Reddy reached his hundred. “More importantly, the way he fought and showed his talent and discipline is why you and Irfan were chatting (while commentating),” Shastri said Star sports.

“I was speechless and had tears in my eyes. I don’t get tears of joy in my eyes that easily. I enjoyed watching (Reddy’s innings) yesterday,” Shastri added.