“Tension, Tension, Tension!” That’s how Nitish Kumar Reddy’s joyously-tearful father, Mutyala, described the moments to Adam Gilchrist when his son was one short of a most-memorable maiden Test hundred as rain clouds hovered over the MCG and the last man in Mohammad Siraj joined him in the middle.
Siraj had to face either three balls or take a single possibly off the first before Nitish could come back on strike. Tension is a perfect emotion to not just describe the state of Nitish’s family but that of all the cricket fans glued to the television watching a 21-year-old pull off something special. Gilchrist, too, would be intimate with that emotion though from the other side as has been at the receiving end of another Telugu-speaking cricketer, VVS Laxman, a few times – in India and in Australia. Simon Katich, another Australian cricketer, was visibly moved and would mutter ‘very very special – like Laxman’ a few times aloud at the broadcast centre.
It was a day of happy tears at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the most hallowed cricketing venue in Australia. The father would bawl beyond the boundary, the eyes of the mother and sister too were moist, and around them adult men and women were shedding tears. In the commentary box, Ravi Shastri’s eyes went moist.
How could one not get emotional? Right in the end, when he was on 99, the match situation, where Australia were still well ahead (India ended the day at 358 for 9, 116 runs behind Australia), didn’t matter. The game and the fact that the series was on line didn’t matter. Just that one run mattered. Nothing else.
It was about a young man who has been India’s find of the tour and earned the respect and admiration from tough fans of a sun-baked country who have continuously booed Mohammad Siraj through the series and who had booed Virat Kohli on Thursday when he came to bat as well as after being dismissed.
𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠.
The Reddy family has been a bundle of emotions today. Witness the magical moment as they embrace Nitish after he wowed the world with his extraordinary maiden Test century at the MCG.
A day etched in memories… pic.twitter.com/uz9mrASuRm
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 28, 2024
The same Australians were clapping, shouting, and willing the young Indian on. It was quite surreal. It was a celebration of the sport in some ways – a young batsman, who has gone about his game with great poise and character, was on the verge of something special. And the Australians, too, had recognised it, cottoned on to the moment.
Sometimes, sport can transcend boundaries, borders, and make adults go weak in the knees. Later at a pub near the ground, a usual post-MCG haunt ‘Mountain View’, a few Aussies actually raised a toast, saying “to your young Indian fella, you should be so proud mate. For a moment there, we forgot it was Siraj with the bat and were hoping that he too would survive – just for the young Reddy!”
Pride would eventually descend on the Indians at the MCG and also beyond it, for more special reasons. For Reddy-gaaru. “Have you noticed that Telugu-speaking cricketers have a great record and relationship with Australia? VVS Laxman, Mohammad Azharuddin, and now on that list joins Nitish Kumar Reddy!” an emotional 73-year old Gopal Tangirala, founding chairperson of Australia Telugu Community and Cultural Centre, tells The Indian Express.
Or even Shivlal Yadav, born and brought up in Hyderabad, whose 52 of 102 Test wickets came against Australia. “Nitish seems to have the same sort of composure, talent, personality, and a friendliness about him – just like Laxman. I have met Azhar and also Laxman a few times. Just like Laxman, Nitish Reddy has been a thorn in Australia’s flesh all series, hasn’t he?!” Tangirala adds.
There are at least 22,000 Telugu-speaking families in the state of Victoria, where Melbourne is located, according to Tangirala. “I would say over 50,000 people easily. Nitish’s gutsy performance makes us all proud, not just us, all of India! Not a surprise his parents were in tears, we all were!”
Nitish Kumar Reddy hits his maiden Test century and receives a standing ovation from the MCG crowd ❤️ #AUSvIND | #PlayOfTheDay | @nrmainsurance pic.twitter.com/Vbqq5C26gz
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 28, 2024
But as the father said, the preceding moments were of full “tension”. When Siraj was beaten off the first ball he faced from Pat Cummins, who had replaced Nathan Lyon, after recognising that he had to be the bad guy, the kill-joy. And he tried his best. Siraj poked at the first ball and it almost tore away a slice of the bat. And the cries of ‘ooooohhhhh’ rang out at the MCG, which has seen the most controversial Bodyline series that, in some ways, created the barracking culture of Aussies against the opponents.
But this time the aural cry sounded like relief that there was no wood on the leather.
Until the moment Washington Sundar fell for an equally-important 50, the mood was different for it had seemed it would be a cruise through to the hundred. The Aussies were still hollering for a wicket and a large section of Indians were almost seemingly convinced that the two youngsters were going to cruise. A hush fell around the large section of a record third-day crowd of 83,073 when Sundar fell. Last time more people turned up for Day 3 at MCG was when Don Bradman, the greatest batsman to have played the game, was batting on 56 overnight at end of Day 2 in the Ashes Test of January 1937. He of course hit a big hundred the next day. But now the record crowd was not sure as Cummins – apart from one day at Perth when Kohli and, incidentally, Reddy were blasting his attack – hadn’t let one moment drift by and was hustling down to stub out the joy out of Indians. Unsurprisingly, he took down Bumrah.
Siraj walked in and even the Aussie fans, it seemed, had forgotten that they had to ‘dislike’ him.
Dark clouds hung around MCG. Cummins hurled a bouncer and Siraj ducked quickly. The Australian captain smiled, the crowd let out a thunderous applause. Reddy clapped, walked down the track to say something. Siraj didn’t budge. Travis Head was at short-leg, the young pup Sam Konstas was at silly point. The slip cordon was packed. Cummins took a moment at the top of the run-up and charged in again with that unique run-up of his, with both feet almost threading the same spot in a crooked way. MCG was exploding and holding its breath at the same time, if that’s possible. But it was that kind of day.
In the past, in Chennai, Siraj had held his ground memorably to let R Ashwin hit a special hundred in Chennai. Now, he wanted to do it for Reddy. And he leaned forward to defend a length delivery as compactly as he ever did and held his pose, head bent that would have made Sunil Gavaskar, who had earlier in the day lashed out against Rishabh Pant for a false shot, proud. Konstas plucked the ball and threatened to throw down the stumps. Siraj didn’t even look up. The crowd that has booed him constantly ever since his battle against Head cheered – presumably for his survival. The moment was getting absolutely surreal.
On the third ball of next over from the hometown cult hero Scott Boland, who didn’t bowl a single loose ball all day, Nitish Kumar Reddy smashed it on the up and over to the sightscreen and calmly ran across to the other side. All around him, the Indians and Australians were losing their heads. His family too. Not him, though. He quietly bent down on his right knee, took his time to prop the helmet atop the bat, and pointed his finger towards the sky.
Siraj, who had run across excitedly, recognised that the moment was of the younger partner, and waited patiently before enveloping him with the warmest hug one can imagine – a hug that not just Telugu-speaking people, not just Indians, but even the Australians seemed to want to do. A hug of joy.
Sometimes, just sometimes, cricket can make everyone involved shed a tear. It was that kind of a day at the ground that’s lovingly shortened by the locals as just ‘G’. The day Australians forgot how to boo, and extended their arms wide to hug and celebrate a 21-year old Indian kid at their most-prized cricketing venue: Reddy-Gaaru’s G.
I’m Manas Ranjan Sahoo: Founder of “Webtirety Software”. I’m a Full-time Software Professional and an aspiring entrepreneur, dedicated to growing this platform as large as possible. I love to Write Blogs on Software, Mobile applications, Web Technology, eCommerce, SEO, and about My experience with Life.
