Last Updated:
Massive records of all kinds followed Nitish Kumar Reddy after he scored his maiden Test century at just 21 years of age.
Nitish Kumar Reddy celebrates his century on Saturday. (BCCI Photo)
Nitish Kumar Reddy hit many birds with his one rock-like century at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on the third day of the fourth 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Test on Saturday.
He scored his maiden Test century — 105* (176) — and highest Test score, worked with Washington Sundar to lead the recovery from a precarious 191/6 to 358/9 in the chase of Australia’s first innings score of 474 and kept the visitors afloat in the Test.
His confident celebrations plus the heartfelt emotional expressions of his dad seemingly restored the sense of fight and character in the Indian dressing room. It also looked to have helped pacify the MCG crowd which was growing increasingly hostile towards the Indians.
The young all-rounder rose as the highest run-scorer of the series. And with it, he earned some praise and more importantly, bought time for the Gautam Gambhir-led coaching department, which was under fire for India’s earlier positions in the test.
Almost as a return for his contributions, Reddy earned to his name some special individual records. Below, we have listed three of them:
3. Highest Score For A Number Eight Or Lower At MCG
If you are a new fan of the sport, it might be hard to understand why MCG Test centuries are more special than others, despite it being a flatter track than other Australian grounds. The reasons are mostly external — Boxing Day Tests see record-high attendances and the ground in itself makes players feel small, as if they are in a bullring.
Reddy’s century was even better because it came from a position as low as number eight, as the last recognized Indian. With the 105, he now owns the record for the highest Test score by a batter playing at number eight or lower at the MCG.
He has gone past Australian Reginald Alexander Duff’s 122-year-old record score of 104 against England. Only two others — Australia’s JM Gregory and RR Lindwall, who both scored exactly 100 in 1920 and 1947 respectively — have recorded three figures batting lower than number eight at the MCG. For the number eight position specifically, the record was held by Mitchell Johnson for his 92* against Sri Lanka in 2012.
2. Highest Score For A Number 8 Or Lower For India In Australia
Reddy’s record is not just limited to the MCG. His 105 is also already the highest score by an Indian batting number eight or lower in any Test in Australia.
The previous best was Anil Kumble’s 87 which came in Adelaide when he was captaining India in the famous 2008 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Apart from him, the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Kiran More, Shardul Thakur, and Ravichandran Ashwin, among a few others, have scored fifties while batting in the bottom-four in Australia but Reddy’s was the first ton.
Reddy’s overall 200 runs while batting at eight or lower in Tests is already the fourth-best for India, only behind Ashwin, Kumble and Manoj Prabhakar. He might get promoted to top six after this series but the Telangana boy would have probably broken this record by then.
1. Nitish Kumar Reddy Is The Youngest Boxing Day Test Centurion For India
Lest we forget that Reddy is still just 21 years old and get spell-bounded by his maturity, there are records to signify that too, and further enhance his achievement. At 21 years and 216 days, he became the third-youngest Test centurion for India in Australia.
But zero down to the biggest stage of the Boxing Day Test, and Reddy is the youngest Indian to reach three figures. The previous best was Virender Sehwag who did it when he was 25 years and 67 days old in 2003 with a brilliant 195 (233). Tendulkar achieved the feat at 25 years and 246 days while Virat Kohli did it at 26 years and 51 days.
Reddy is also the youngest non-Australian to score a century while batting at number eight and lower, breaking England’s Matt Prior’s record of 28 years and 311 days from 2011.
