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The moment Reddy reached the milestone with a lofted drive off Scott Boland’s bowling, the Indian batting legend jumped off his chair and applauded the young talent.
Sunil Gavaskar gives standing ovation to Nitish Kumar Reddy
‘The rise of Nitish Kumar Reddy. He rules the G,’ said ABC Sport commentator Corbin Middlemas while Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar, seated next to him in the commentary box, got off his chair and gave a standing ovation to the young batter. Reddy became the talk of the town for his gutsy knock in the ongoing Boxing Day Test against Australia. When the chips were down for India, Reddy, along with Washington Sundar, stood tall and bailed out the host from a precarious situation.
Reddy’s knock impressed Gavaskar who repeatedly heaped praises on his temperament and shot selection. The moment Reddy reached the milestone with a lofted drive off Scott Boland’s bowling, the Indian batting legend jumped off his chair and applauded the young talent.
“Wonderful shot that. Straight bat and a lofted shot to get his first hundred. And I’m pretty certain that this is going to first of many hundreds. What a find this young man has been for Indian cricket. Superb innings, fantastic temperament. A great mix of talent and temperament. Fantastic stuff, young man. Keep going,” Gavaskar said on air while clapping for Reddy.
While Gavaskar looked extremely elated at Reddy’s achievement, he was baffled by the way Rishabh Pant got out in the morning session. India desperately needed a partnership but Pant went across and attempted to scoop Scott Boland to fine leg, only to get a big leading edge for Nathan Lyon to complete a simple catch at deep third man.
Gavaskar lashed out at Rishabh Pant for his ‘stupid’ shot, saying the wicketkeeper-batter had let the team down.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid. You have got two fielders there and you still go for that (shot). You missed the previous shot and look where you have been caught. You have been caught at deep third man. That is throwing your wicket,” a furious Gavaskar said while commentating.
“Not in the situation that India was… you have to understand the situation as well. You cannot say that that’s your natural game. I’m sorry, that is not your natural game. That is a stupid shot. That is letting your team down badly,” the batting great said on air.
“He should not be going in the dressing room. He should be going in the other dressing room.”
Reddy’s unbeaten 105 took India to 358 for nine, still 116 runs short of Australia’s first innings score of 474 as rain brought an early end to the third day’s play.
- Location :
Melbourne, Australia
