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Nitish Kumar Reddy’s family lived every tense moment before his century with him, despite watching from afar.
Nitish Kumar Reddy’s sister, Tejaswi spoke about his maiden Test century.
Nitish Kumar Reddy’s sister, Tejaswi said she felt like she was ‘playing the game’ when he was batting in the 90s at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Saturday. Reddy ultimately reached his century, his first in international cricket, and got out for 114 (189) on Sunday, helping his team reach 369/10 in response to Australia’s 474/10.
Reddy became the third-youngest Indian Test centurion in Australia, after Sachin Tendulkar and Rishabh Pant. There were a few tense moments when he was at 99 — Jasprit Bumrah ran two on the last ball of an over and got out on the third ball of the next. It left the number 11 Mohammed Siraj to negotiate three balls against Pat Cummins.
But Siraj survived, allowing Reddy the strike for the following over. He hit a brilliant on-drive over the bowler to reach three figures.
“It [was] like I am playing the game,” Tejaswi told ABC Sport. “It’s not him, it’s me and my family playing the game. We are really very proud of him… We were playing to God that it should be a century. We were very tense when it was 97, 99, but when it [became] a century, we were speechless. We are very happy and very proud.”
She also spoke about their father, Mutyalu, sacrificing his long-time job to support Reddy’s career.
“It’s been a long journey, it’s a tough path. When my father sacrificed his job, there were many people who didn’t support it. They said we were making the wrong decision but my father was sure he was making a good decision. He always supported my brother and the thing I should tell is that my brother kept a promise and proved it himself.”
“It’s just not my father’s sacrifice, it’s his dedication too. It’s a combination thing and it worked out… He never made it like, it’s a bad day for us. We got everything from him. He never expressed it,” she added while saying that Mutyalu is now ‘very happy’ that he got to meet former India captain Virat Kohli as well.
Tejaswi was asked about when did the family realize that Reddy could make it big and she said it was after he hit the famous 345-ball 441 against Nagaland in the Vijay Merchant Trophy. Then, the interviewee asked her about the conversation they had when Reddy came to meet his family after his century on Saturday.
“He said it’s all not done yet. There’s more to come,” Tejaswi remembered.
- Location :
Melbourne, Australia
