2 days Ago By Gomesh S
MELBOURNE : It was tense. It was emotional. The scenes had all the ingredients of a blockbuster Tollywood movie.
The protagonist on the field was plying his trade. Enacting one of India’s greatest fightbacks. The celebrations too had sprinkling of movies.
Nitish Kumar Reddy first imitated the famous gesture from Pushpa after completing his fifty and later when he reached his maiden Test hundred, it was a Bahubali scene. India were still on the ropes, but thanks to Reddy and Washington Sundar, India could at least breathe with ease at 358 for 9 in reply to Australia’s first innings’ 474. In the stands were his family members sobbing.
Father Mutyala Reddy and his wife were in attendance. Sometime later, Mutyala, his wife and daughter were waiting eagerly for the hotel door to open. Just as the door opened and the 21-year-old centurion emerged, Nitish’s mum embraced her son.
Even though she tried to control, his sister hugged him saying, “so proud, so happy.” The most emotional moment was that of Mutyala who buried his face in Nitish’s shoulders and cried. He has sacrificed a lot.
Even gave up his job so that he could ferry his son from practice to home. He even faced criticism for not having a job. But he had faith in Nitish.
As the father kissed his son and hugged him tight in the video shared by BCCI.tv, they lived a dream. The Andhra all-rounder (from Vizag), with his unbeaten 105, saved the day for India.
It was MSK Prasad, former India selector, who spotted him in the early 2010s. He used to be a top-order batter bowling seam-up for Andhra age-group cricket. If Prasad played his part, Hanuma Vihari, (2021 Border Gavaskar Trophy team-member), too had a hand in helping Nitish make his state debut as a teenager.
“Vihari always came forward and groomed him. I feel that Vihari has got the knack of supporting the right talent,” Prasad tells this daily. Vihari credits the youngster and his family for what he has done.
“I always thought he would be playing at this level. But coming so soon and being able to perform in Australia is unbelievable. I felt really emotional today,” Vihari said.
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