Mark Howard and Nitish Kumar Reddy. | (Credits: Screengrab)
Australian sports presenter Mark Howard was left stunned as Team India all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy revealed his highest score in U16 domestic level cricket during an interview in Perth. With the batting all-rounder revealed that he amassed 442 in U16 domestic level quarter-final against Nagaland, Howard ceased to believe it as he shared a video of the same on X.
Reddy, who made his T20I debut against Bangladesh last month, received his first call-up to the Test squad for the Australia tour. Despite playing only 23 first-class games since debuting in 2020, the 21-year-old was called up to the Test squad.
Here’s how the conversation between Reddy and Howard panned out:
“I had a chat with Gautam Sir” – Nitish Kumar Reddy
Meanwhile, the debutant, who top-scored with 41 on day one of the Perth Test, remembered head coach Gautam Gambhir’s advice, elaborating, as quoted by cricket.com.au:
“Even I heard a lot about Perth and I still remember the last practice we were having and after the practice, I had a chat with Gautam Sir and he was mentioning (that) when you get any bouncers, or something like that, sharp spells, you just take it on your shoulders. (He said) ‘Just feel like you are taking a bullet for your country’. That really helped me a lot. Like that just boosted me up.”
Team India also ended day two on top, leading by 218 runs as openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul have slammed unbeaten half-centuries.
