WATCH: Tears of joy; Nitish Kumar Reddy's father gets emotional after son's maiden century at MCG

India's young all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy slammed his maiden century against Australia in the ongoing Boxing Day Test match at the MCG. He scored a 173-ball century by playing a lofted shot over the mid-on fielder. He cleared his front leg and just went for the shot. His father, who has been his support system, was extremely happy with his son's performance and was in tears after the century. 

Just after his century, the game was stopped due to bad light. Until then, India scored 358 runs at the loss of nine wickets. Reddy scripted history at the MCG as he became the first batter to score a century at No.8. The entire nation will always remember this knock as he also became the third youngest player to score a century in Australia after Sachin Tendulkar and Rishabh Pant. 

Watch the video here:

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

"For our family, it's a special day and we cannot forget this day in our life. He has been performing well since the age group of 14-15 and now in international cricket, it's a very special feeling. (On what were his emotions when Nitish was on 99 with one wicket remaining) I was very tense. Only the last wicket was remaining. Thankfully, Siraj managed to survive," said Mutyala Reddy, Nitish's father, during an interview with Adam Gilchrist. 

India's attacking response to Australia's 474 runs at MCG

After the initial collapse by the middle-order batters, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Washington Sundar handled the situation really well. While Jaiswal and Sundar scored half-centuries, Reddy's century came in at the perfect time. India might not have taken the lead but successfully avoided the follow-on, and if the last wicket batters formed a partnership, Australia would not have gotten much of a lead in the second innings. 

From taking a random picture with Virat Kohli to scripting history in front of his idol, Nitish Reddy came a long way. He also formed a partnership of 127 runs off 285 balls with Washington Sundar at MCG. The player recused the team from collapsing in the first innings.