Voila! Team India Gets A Wonderful New Year Gift, Courtesy Of AP Gem Nitish Reddy

The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) held its breath in palpable tension as Nitish Kumar Reddy, batting on 99 was to face the third ball of the 115th over from Scott Boland on Saturday.

Standing in the stands, his father Mutyalu was praying to God. Not far away, his mother, Manasa, and sister, Tejaswi, were also praying.

Back in India, his coaches, Nirmal Kumar in Ranchi and CD Thomson in Hyderabad, were extremely tense as they watched the action from their respective TV screens.

Boland bowled a full ball at the stumps and with an elegant loft over mid-on, Nitish reached his first Test century. The stadium, including the entire Indian team in the dugout, rose to applaud a splendid knock played by their youngest touring member Overwhelmed with joy, Mutyalu—who in 2016 left a secure government job to champion Nitish’s cricketing dreams—wept openly, his hands pressed together in prayer, thanking God amidst the deafening applause from fans around him.

Nirmal and Thomson were beaming with pride as Nitish, who eventually made 114 on Sunday, marked his grand arrival in the international cricket arena. “It’s been a joy and an absolute privilege to watch him bat. We’ve been wishing for this from a long time. I came to Hyderabad to celebrate Christmas with the family and this is now a new year present in advance,” the USA-based Thomson told this correspondent.

“His father struggled a lot for Nitish’s growth in cricket. He made a lot of sacrifices for his son to play at the highest level. To see him happy feels so wonderful,” he said.

Going further, he said “He let the emotions flow and rode on it before waving to the crowd. His calmness has been a standout, especially when guiding the team under pressure, and definitely having a lefty in Washington batting at the other end did help to rotate the strike and take the pressure off. I’m sure it’s just the beginning of greater things to come.”

Having known Nitish for 10-12 years from their time in Andhra Pradesh, Thomson noted that his ward’s Melbourne knock perfectly illustrated four key coaching principles – training, technique, tactical awareness, and temperament.

According to Thomson, Nitish possesses remarkable mental strength; he readily tackles challenges and adapts his approach, a quality also enhanced by his time playing IPL for Sunrisers Hyderabad.

“Whenever you adapt, and learn, you develop your temperament rather than staying in the same zone. Nitish right throughout the years has always been a big run scorer, like he got a 400 in junior cricket, and always had that skill to score at will. The development has been in his self-belief after going to the IPL.”

Nirmal, who coached Nitish for four years in the U-19 setup before reuniting in last year’s Ranji Trophy, recalled about the youngster’s fondness of playing in pressure situations.

“If he has to score 20 runs in two overs, he will say ‘I will go and finish’. If he has to defend 10 runs in the last over, he will stand up and say ‘I will stop those runs and we will win’. He is like that. Whatever happens in a game, he takes responsibility for everything and is used to doing it,” he explains.

Nirmal singles out highlights the Andhra Cricket Association’s (ACA) residential academies as instrumental in Nitish’s progress - starting from his enrollment at the U-14 level in Kadapa, before moving to the Vizianagaram centre.

The academies were established by MSK Prasad, the former Indian wicket keeper-batter, who previously served as ACA’s director of cricket and subsequently as chief selector for the senior men’s national team. From the U-14 academy, Prasad identified Nitish as a notable talent, as he climbed steadily through the age-group system.

Nitish also received significant support from Andhra captain Hanuma Vihari, a key figure in India’s 2021 incredible drawn Sydney Test.

“Last season, when I was the head coach for the Andhra Ranji team, he focused on batting, after being heavily focused on bowling in the two previous seasons. He scored a hundred against Bihar and had a knock of 70 as a number seven batter. Since then, he has been batting in senior cricket," added Nirmal. Apart from Nitish’s eye-catching boundaries, the firmness in his footwork and watertight defence, Thomson, who was with Andhra till 2020, pointed out how Nitish’s ever-learning nature makes him stand apart from other youngsters.

“You could give him a tip or two, and leave it. Then, you come back again 10-15 days later, and he’s adopted that. He’s one guy who will listen to you with keen intent, absorb it from you what it is, and assimilate that particular thing. Right from childhood, he had this gift, and talent.”

Whenever Thomson is home from the USA, Nitish and Mutyalu make it a point to meet him, where the focus is to work on his power hitting skills via special camps and one-on-one sessions.

“In USA, I learnt how baseballers hit a ball with a small bat further away. I brought the learnings back, and shared it with him. I could see that one month later, he’s already adopted it into his game. So hats-off to the boy, as learning is the top skill that he has. You will see that he keeps improving with every outing that he’s having there.”

Years down the line, the memory of December 28, 2024, will instantly evoke the palpable tension of Melbourne when Nitish neared his century, and the eruption of cheers when he finally reached his hundred. Everyone connected to Nitish - the Reddy family, Nirmal, Thomson, Prasad, and Vihari - will distinctly remember the overwhelming emotions they experienced during that memorable moment, as it was a day where cinematic scenes transformed into a breathtaking reality.