“Grateful, an innings to remember.” Nitish Reddy had posted the aforesaid statement on his Instagram account after cracking his maiden first-class hundred, against Bihar, in Patna. It wasn’t just about Nitish scoring an unbeaten 159 for Andhra. It was also about the way he scored those runs. He essayed a few crunchy drives off Veer Pratap Singh and also showcased his range of shots against Ashutosh Aman, the left-arm spinner, by playing with the turn and also against the turn.
This hundred from Nitish came just before the 2024 IPL season, where he accumulated 303 runs. Once again, it wasn’t just about Nitish accruing 303 runs as he accumulated them with a touch of class. Soon, the Indian think-tank drafted the all-rounder into the limited-overs set-up. Although he missed the Zimbabwe series because of a hernia problem, it was crystal clear that the coaching staff had a vision – to pick him for the tour of Australia.
Despite Nitish’s rather modest numbers with the bat in first-class cricket, albeit on some tricky decks back home, the selectors and Gautam Gambhir didn’t waver from their plans of selecting him for the tour Down Under. So, how did Nitish go about his business in his first Test, in Perth? For starters, the conditions in Perth are a world away from the wicket in Patna: A good covering of grass, alongside pace and bounce. On Day 1, there were perhaps a few indentations too.
Nitish, who walked out to bat, with India in trouble at 73 for 6, soon was at the receiving end of a bumper from Mitchell Starc. It also seemed as if he had gloved it to the wicketkeeper. Fortunately for the all-rounder, Australia didn’t take the review. The Australian pace trio continued to bang it short at the Test debutant. In the 48th over, he took a blow on the glove. There was another bumper that whistled over Nitish’s helmet and into the gloves of the keeper.
Despite wickets falling at the other end, Nitish was a picture of calmness at the crease. He took on Nathan Lyon, the off-spinner, with a few reverse sweeps. Nitish also upper-cut a short ball from Cummins over the boundary rope. So, what does Nitish have to say on playing in Perth, and against a pace attack comprising tall pace bowlers?
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Here, a brief chat with Gautam Gambhir, the head coach, helped in motivating the all-rounder. “Even I heard a lot about Perth, and I still remember when we were having after the last practice session, I had a chat with Gautam Gambhir sir. He mentioned when you get any bouncers or something like those sharp spells, you just take them on your shoulders and just feel like you are taking a bullet for your country,” Nitish said.
“So that really helped me a lot, that just boosted me up. So I was feeling that somehow you’ll have that on the back of the mind. He said that and I felt like you need to take bullets for your country,” he added. Nitish certainly implemented his coach’s famous words.
There is also a backstory to Nitish’s fledgling career, which spurred him to aim for higher accolades. During the course of the 2024 Duleep Trophy, he had said this to RevSportz: “I started playing gully cricket and then went to a summer camp. My father (Mutyalu) got transferred to Rajasthan. He had some discussion with his colleagues, and they said, ‘oh, Rajasthan, this is not good, that is not good’. I was just 11 or 12 years old, I guess. It was the early stage of my career; I had not played any league.
“So, at that time, he resigned from his job for me. It is something that I will remember for my life. He made the sacrifice for me. Of course, there were troubles. It was a government job; it was a big job at that time. He was humiliated by some people, relatives. He used to cry without letting me know. I took that as motivation.” His father would have been proud of his son's gusty hand of 41, which in turn could be the difference between the two sides.
Nitish’s skill set isn’t just restricted to batting as he also generates consistent swing with the ball. In what has turned out to be a fast-moving Test match, at some point of time, Nitish would be called upon by Jasprit Bumrah to bowl his quota of overs. It is difficult to predict whether Nitish will make an impact with the ball too. But there is no doubt that Nitish will continue to test the boundaries in order to get the best out of his abilities.
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