Nitish Kumar Reddy had his dream come true moment as he reached his maiden Test century at the iconic MCG on Day 3 of the Boxing Day Test. He became the third youngest Indian to smash a Test hundred on Australian soil after Sachin Tendulkar and the first Indian no, 8 batter to smash a Test century in Australia. His knock ensured that the Aussies would not be throwing India on the backfoot and would have a big fight ahead of them.
Reddy's special post for Mohammed Siraj
Nitish Reddy did take the limelight after the stunning knock. However, there was a point when everyone on the ground and all watching home were on their feet as India had lost the wickets of Washington Sundar and Jasprit Bumrah in quick successions. When Sundar got out Reddy was on 97 and when Cummins sent Bumrah back to the dugout, Reddy was on 99.
Reddy only needed one more run to complete his ton but Mohammed Siraj was on strike and he had to face 3 balls from Pat Cummins. If Cummins had struck again on those three balls and Siraj had departed, Reddy would have missed his chance to score a hundred.
Cummins beat Siraj on the first one, then he threw a bouncer that the Indian pacer managed to avoid by ducking. He defended the final ball and the whole stadium erupted as Siraj survived those three deliveries. Reddy on the non-striker's end was seen appreciating Siraj after every delivery. He completed his ton in the very next over and created history.
After the match, Nitish Reddy posted a special story to thank Siraj. He posted his picture of hugging the pacer and captioned it by writing 'I also believe in Siraj Bhai'. This was in reference to Mohammed Siraj's famous dialogue 'I only believe in Jassi Bhai' from the T20 World Cup 2024 triumph which went extremely viral on the internet.
The Day 3 was called off early due to rain and bad light. However, India is 358/9 at stumps and they are still 116 runs behind with Nitish Reddy and Mohammed Siraj on the pitch.