‘Jhukega Nahi’ - Nitish Kumar Reddy hits Pushpa celebration after maiden Test half-century

Nitish Kumar Reddy has batted brilliantly in the Boxing Day Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He walked out to bat under immense pressure as India lost the wicket of Rishabh Pant but Reddy dealt with the challenge and showed his maturity and eventually hit his maiden half-century in the longest format with a boundary. 

The 22-year-old has been one of India’s best batters in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. There were doubts following his selection to the Test side but the cricketer managed to prove his worth and has been a consistent performer for the team. So much so, that there might be discussions of promoting Reddy up in the order when the transition eventually happens.

Check Out - WATCH: Unnecessary risk costs Rishabh Pant his wicket, sparks frustration

Meanwhile, Reddy hit the famous Pushpa celebration after completing his half-century. Hailing from Visakhapatnam, he has grown up watching Telegu films and decided to pay tribute to legendary actor Allu Arjun.

Watch the video below: 

Notably, Washington Sundar supported Reddy well and that helped India avoid follow-on in the first innings. Both batters were brilliant in their decision-making and left the balls well, which put pressure on the Australian cricketers. They also rotated well and picked singles and doubles at regular intervals, which made it difficult for the hosts. 

India needed a strong partnership early on but the middle order failed to live up to the potential. The onus fell on Sundar and Reddy and they showed their class in the middle. Reddy particularly dealt well against short balls. He mostly left them and that didn’t help the Pat Cummins-led side. Sundar, on the other hand, played the role of Cheteshwar Pujara. With Reddy playing shots from one hand, the all-rounder had a regressive attitude, which was also the need of the hour as India were seven wickets down.

The goal will be to prolong the partnership and help India bridge the gap at Melbourne. The surface is tailor-made for the batters to succeed and the youngsters will be hoping to take advantage of that.