BGT 2024-25 | 'Was so pumped up when Kohli got his 81st hundred': Nitish Reddy

Allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy had a memorable Test debut when his knocks of 41 and 38 not out along with picking a scalp was one of the driving forces in youngstersrsquo playing a vital hand in the 295run win over Australia at PerthReddy got his debut cap from his idol Virat Kohli and was at the crease when he saw him hit an unbeaten century in the second innings He recalled of the time when he took a selfie afar from Kohli and Anushka Sharma during 2018 BCCI awards to making his Test debut in the playing eleven alongside the talismanic batterThis was a safety photo at the time he Virat Kohli was so famous I felt that if I dont get a photo chance lets take a picture now Itrsquos reminding me of my childhood memories From childhood I was a huge fan of Virat bhaiya I used to watch every match of his so that he scores a hundred and celebrates it I liked his celebration a lot ndash at that time I used to calculate my age so as to see if he doesnt retire when I make my debut for IndialdquoNow playing with him and I was seeing him close to ten runs then five runs and I was thinking hersquos close to getting his hundred Even I didnrsquot realise that I was close to getting my fifty ndash it would be my first fifty in Tests if I scored 12 runs I was so pumped up when he got his 81st hundred and it was a great moment to seerdquo said Reddy in a video posted on bccitvAlso Read When you get a bouncer take it on your shoulder Gautam Gambhirs motivational words for NitishReddy who made his T20I debut in October further took a trip down the memory lane and recalled of the sacrifice his father made by leaving his government job to focus on his cricketing career in Visakhapatnam ldquoTo be honest I was not that serious when I was young My father left his job for me There has been lots of sacrifice in my storyrdquoldquoOne day I saw him crying due to financial problems he had and it felt like I had to do the hard work Like your father did this sacrifice and you are just enjoying cricket by playing it for fun So that time I took it seriously and suddenly in one year I got the growth did the hard work and it paid offrdquoldquoEveryone said lsquoMutyala Reddy you made your son go this farrsquo As a son of a middle class family I am so proud that my father is so happy now and I gave my first jersey to him where I saw happiness in his face and felt immensely proudrdquo he elaboratedHe also said advice from KL Rahul worked well on his debut in Perth ldquoI was a bit nervous at first on how I will interact with players who I have seen on TV while growing up So if I have any problems I just want to go ampamp talk with KL bhai I somehow feel good vibes from him whatever suggestions he gives that works for merdquoldquoHe once said lsquoMacha when you go out in the centre everything is going so fast Donrsquot go so fast just slow down the gamersquo Itrsquos because my first match went in that way everything happened so fast in seconds and that really helped me before going out to bat in my debut matchrdquoReddy spoke about his fondness for shadow practising ahead of playing games ldquoI do like doing a lot of shadow practising At that time I visualise bowlers who are going to bowl to me and what all shots I can play to them as per the situation When you actually face them in the centre it will be like lsquoArey you already practiced against them in shadow practicersquo So thatrsquos how I keep my routine simplerdquoAhead of the second game starting in Adelaide on Friday Reddy signed off by expressing excitement on playing Test cricket against pink ball of which he got a taste by making 42 in the tour match against Prime Ministerrsquos XI at the Manuka OvalldquoI am so excited I had a good debut and I just want to continue my contribution to the team With the pink ball I want to see how much swing I can get as a fastbowler When I faced the first ball in the practice match I left it and saw how it behavedrdquoldquoI just want to maintain my hunger for good performances I personally feel I do good in three dimensions and want to help the team whatever they want from me so thatrsquos what I want to just focus onrdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever