"Many people might have scored a hundred at No. 8 by slogging" - Hanuma Vihari lauds Nitish Kumar Reddy's century in BGT 2024-25 4th Test
Hanuma Vihari has lauded Nitish Kumar Reddy for scoring a century at No. 8 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 fourth Test with a conventional batting approach. He noted that the responsible innings contrasted with the swashbuckling knocks the youngster played in the first two Tests.
Reddy scored an unbeaten 105 off 176 deliveries as India ended Day 3 (Saturday, December 28) of the Boxing Day Test against Australia at 358 for nine. Mohammed Siraj (2* off 7) will be his partner on the fourth morning when the visitors resume their innings still 116 runs in arrears.
During a discussion on Star Sports, Vihari pointed out that Reddy showed discipline apart from swag.
"The celebration shows that he has the swag as well. He plays with swag but showed discipline in batting. Many people might have scored a hundred at No. 8 by slogging. However, he showed his temperament and played a proper Test match innings," he said.
The 2021 Sydney Test hero also praised Reddy's temperament and technique.
"We have previously seen him hitting sixes with reverse sweeps and over cover. We saw IPL batting in the first two Test matches but the impressive thing in this Test match was the temperament and technique he showed. It was incredible," Vihari observed.
Nitish Kumar Reddy was joined by Washington Sundar in the middle when India were reduced to 221/7 at the fall of Ravindra Jadeja's wicket. The duo added 127 runs for the eighth wicket, with the spin-bowling all-rounder contributing a 162-ball 50.
"We didn't have any warning that he is such a good batter" - Sanjay Manjrekar on Nitish Kumar Reddy
![Nitish Kumar Reddy has struck 10 fours and a six during his unbeaten 105. [P/C: Getty]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/12/56d5c-17353803220762-1920.jpg?w=500)
In the same discussion, Sanjay Manjrekar noted that Nitish Kumar Reddy surprised him with his knock.
"I have been doing this commentary job for a long time. I have also played on the ground but I have never seen anything like this where we didn't have any warning that he is such a good batter. Many people have scored hundreds by swinging their bats," he said.
While acknowledging that Reddy played a few decent knocks in the first three Tests, the former India batter pointed out that the 21-year-old did not have a great first-class record before his maiden tour Down Under.
"He has scored runs in every match but they were forties. His first-class average was 22 and he had never gone to Australia. There was a lot of batting depth in this hundred. He has such a wide range in his batting, but we didn't get any trailer or teaser for it," Manjrekar observed.
Manjrekar acknowledged that he thought the Indian team wasn't balanced heading into the Melbourne Test. However, he added that the visitors have now got a No. 6 batter because Reddy's innings showed the sort of player he is.